Over the next several years, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), a ‘Maharatna’ and Fortune Global 500 company, plans to install charging stations at roughly 7,000 petrol pumps. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country’s largest oil company, stated earlier this week that it will build 10,000 charging stations for electric cars (EVs) over the next three years.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a bold promise to reduce emissions in the world’s third-largest emitter to zero by 2070. BPCL has a nationwide distribution network with 19,000 retail units (fuel stations).
“The electric car charging infrastructure will offer the company with a new revenue stream as well as a hedge against the risk of auto fuel displacement,” says the corporation in a statement released on Friday.
“As automakers turn to electric vehicles to attract new customers, India’s electric car ecosystem is projected to grow fast in the next year’s,” the statement further read.
In comparison to companies that have yet to build the physical infrastructure of retail outlets, BPCL, the second-largest oil marketing company (OMC), is a formidable player with a nationwide network of fuel stations and distributors that can assist in providing EV charging in a timely manner.
“Over the next five years, we hope to reach 7,000 stations to serve the burgeoning EV industry, and these stations will be called as ‘Energy Stations,'” said Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum.
EVs, or electric vehicles, make up a minuscule percentage of all vehicles on the road today. EVs account for roughly 1% of all new 2-wheelers sold, while the share in the four-wheeler category is only 0.2 percent. EVs account for 25% of new three-wheeler sales. Electric vehicles are expected to account for 30% of new two-wheelers and 35% of new three-wheelers by 2030. In 2030, electric vehicles will account for 15% of all four-wheelers sold.
