EV charging at Metro stations under study

Hyderabad: A delegation of Fortum, a Finnish Government-owned company, led by its senior vice-president Risto Penttinen and its executive vice-president Mikael Ronnblad called on HMRL MD NVS Reddy to discuss mutual collaboration between Fortum and HMRL at Metro Rail Bhavan on Thursday.

Based in Finland and operating renewable energy resources in several countries with a focus on carbon emissions reduction, Fortum has entered into an agreement with HMRL to establish electric vehicle charging network at Hyderabad Metro Rail stations and to encourage non-polluting electric vehicles in Hyderabad.

Fortum has recently entered India and so far, established 40 EV charging points for 4-wheelers in India, out of which half of them are in Hyderabad, mostly at HMRL stations. Fortum has already established EV charging points at Begumpet, Kukatpally, KPHB, Moosapet, Stadium, Tarnaka, Mettuguda and Habsiguda Metro Stations and is charging electric cars free of cost at present. Once tariff rates are made applicable, the cost per km of travel will be around Rs 2. The time for charging a car is 45 minutes to one hour.

Apart from Fortum, Power Grid Corporation of India, a Govt of India undertaking has also established three charging points at Miyapur and Balanagar Metro stations. Other electric companies are also coming forward to establish EV charging points at Metro stations for electric bikes and electric autos, stated NVS Reddy.

The HMRL MD made a presentation to the Fortum delegation on the unique features and the engineering and financial innovation of Hyderabad Metro Rail project and informed them that HMRL has a broader goal of promoting Hyderabad as a people's friendly green city with less pollution and better air quality. Appreciating this environmental-friendly approach and proactive measures of HMRL, the Fortum delegation has expressed its readiness to establish more EV charging points at Metro stations.

Sanjay Aggarwal, MD, Fortum India, Awadhesh Jha, vice president, Fortum India and HMRL Chief Electrical Engineer DVS Raju, Superintendent Engineer M Vishnu Vardhan Reddy and General Manager (Works) BN Rajeswar have also participated in the discussions.