Vakrangee to set up electric vehicle charging stations across India
- Vakrangee has 3,504 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra outlets spread across 19 states
- It plans to increase the number of outlets to 75,000 by FY2021-22
Vakrangee will set up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure facilities across India through its Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra outlets. Vakrangee has 3,504 Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra outlets spread across 19 states, with 68% outlets in Tier 5 and Tier 6 cities. Vakrangee plans to increase the number of Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra outlets to 75,000 by FY2021-22 and 3,00,000 outlets by FY2024-25.
“Vakrangee plans to leverage this deep presence by being an enabler for the EV charging facility through its network of retail outlets called as Vakrangee kendras. We continue to focus on expanding the bouquet of services available at our Nextgen Vakrangee Kendras,” the company said in a statement.
“For all operators who want to set up electric vehicle services in India, It will make sense for them to leverage our charging infrastructure rather than building one of their own. We are building a large charging footprint on a pan-India basis through our network of Nextgen Vakrangee Kendra outlets,” the company added.
Executive chairman Dinesh Nandwana, said: “We believe that the electric vehicle space is a huge growth opportunity for the coming years and we want to be future ready by developing a pan-India footprint of EV charging infrastructure. We would be an enabler by providing the distribution platform for the EV charging facility through our partnership with the EV service providers.”
In Budget 2019, the government proposed to provide additional income tax deduction of ₹1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles as part of efforts to accelerate adoption of eco-friendly mobility solutions.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the initiative would lead to a benefit of around ₹2.5 lakh for a customer during the entire duration of the loan.
“Considering our large consumer base, we aim to leapfrog and envision India as a global hub of manufacturing of electric vehicles,” she said.
In order to make EVs affordable, the government has already moved the GST council to lower the tax rate on such vehicles from 12 to 5 per cent, the finance minister said.
Incorporated in 1990, Vakrangee is into the business of providing last-mile retail outlets to deliver real-time banking and financial services, ATM, insurance, e-governance, e-commerce and logistics services to the unserved rural, semi-urban and urban markets. The assisted digital convenience stores are called as “Vakrangee Kendra” which acts as the “one-stop shop” for availing various services and products.
Source: livemint
