The power ministry would soon bring an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure policy, which will also allow individuals to set up charging station for commercial use to boost e-mobility, said Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh Sunday.

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"We have circulated the EV Charging Policy for comments (among other department/ministries). The second line of the policy says that everybody is free to set up EV charging station," Singh told reporters at International Symposium to Promote Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency (Inspire).

When asked whether individuals would be able to use the facility on commercial basis, he replied, "Absolutely. You dont need a licence".

The EV charging infrastructure is required to boost EVs in the country. India intends to have sizeable share of EVs in the vehicle strength by 2030, which is in line with it's commitment to reduce emission intensity by one third from the level of 2005.

About the extension of 1,200 MW hybrid auction (wind and solar), the minister said, "The tariff ceiling has been increased to Rs 2.70 per unit. We are extending it because we have increased the ceiling price".

The auction scheduled for October 26 was postponed till November 14. The successful bidder will set up hybrid solar and wind capacities of 1,200 MW together. The industry has been opposing the Rs 2.6 per unit tariff cap under the hybrid tender.

Meanwhile, the last date of bid submission for 10GW solar auction is also extended till November 19. The techno-commercial bid opening will be carried out on November 20. The auction, which also includes 3GW manufacturing component, has been extended many times. The bids were to be submitted on November 12.

Promotion of clean energy is important for the government. India has set up a target of having 175 GW of clean energy, including 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy, by 2022. 

The minister said India has 72 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, while 20 GW is under various stages of implementation and 27 GW is being bid out.

Singh also informed that his ministry is working to coordinate with oil ministry to set up EV charging station at petrol pumps.

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To support investments in new, innovative and scalable business models, the EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Ltd) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) also signed an agreement for a Global Environment Facility (GEF) for grant of USD 13 million to establish an Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund (EERF) on this occasion.

The EERF aims to expand and sustain investments in the energy efficiency market in India, build market diversification, and scale up existing technologies.

During Inspire 2018 on Friday, the EESL and GAIL (India) Ltd signed MoU to develop natural gas based cogeneration and trigeneration projects in Commercial & Industrial Sectors. This agreement is set to benefit industries such as hotels, hospitals, airports, commercial malls, commercial/ government buildings, integrated residential complexes, educational institutions, data center, among others, with the advantages of combined heat & power technology.

Inspire 2018 has been organised in collaboration with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). 

The event was also attended by Junaid K Ahmad, Country Director, The World Bank (WB) and Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director, Asian Development Bank (ADB).