3 min readPuneJun 10, 2022 04:36 AM IST
First published on: Jun 9, 2022 at 09:49 AM IST
In its efforts to make Pune the first electric vehicle (EV) ready city in the country in the coming months, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is all set to make additional electricity load mandatory in all new residential buildings from July 1 for the provision of encouraging EV charging stations and also reserve parking for EV in public and off-road parking places across the city.
“In 2021, a total of 6,205 EVs were registered in Pune. So far, in 2022, Pune city has witnessed 8220 EV registrations already till May 2022. EV cell shall aim to take the necessary steps to further boost the EV registrations in the city,” said municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar while deciding on a strategy to further promote the use of EVs in the city at the meeting of the civic body’s EV cell Wednesday.
Kumar said, “The EV cell reached a consensus on mandating an additional electricity load for the provision of EV charging stations in all new residential buildings planned in Pune city starting July 1.”
In the meeting held with all government agencies related to EVs on Wednesday, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL) suggested that the new residential housing societies should have a separate meter for EV chargers to avail of the benefits of subsidised tariff. “The tariff for EV is less than the tariff for residential purposes. Thus, the separate meter for EV charging station will be cheaper for citizens,” said an official of MSEDCL.
The EV cell also discussed mandating a certain percentage of the parking locations in the new and existing commercial buildings like malls, cinema halls, hospitals, universities, colleges, etc. “To incentivise the use of EVs by the citizens, the EV cell also discussed the provision of reserving certain percentages of parking spots in public and off-road parking spaces across the city for EVs,” said another civic officer.
The Maharashtra EV policy 2021 identifies certain provisions which fall under the jurisdiction of cities for accelerating the adoption of electrical vehicles across the state. “Pune city has been one of the leaders in deploying these provisions on the ground. The PMC would now focus on a few of these provisions like property tax rebates, building bylaws, parking preferences, etc. The civic body is also studying the feasibility of deploying global EV practices like Low emission zones, awareness campaigns, etc. in the city of Pune,” said Kumar.
He said the EV cell also explored the option to provide a certain rebate on the property tax for individual house owners upon installation of EV charging infrastructure. He also requested EV cell members to collectively design and implement an EV awareness campaign to sensitise the citizens about the environment and economic benefits of electric vehicles.
The momentum gained by such initiatives across the city is expected to further boost EV sales in the city.
The Maharashtra EV policy 2021 identifies certain provisions which fall under the jurisdiction of cities for accelerating the adoption of electrical vehicles across the state. (File/Representational) 
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