Parking digitisation and EVCI trends in Kolkata in 2024
Vehicular parking digitisation and EVCI infusion (Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure) in Kolkata, India in 2024
Introduction
The city of Kolkata has recently seen a rapid rise in demand for EVs (electric vehicles). This includes all types of EVs such as private cars, cabs, buses, and even delivery vehicles used by global corporate like DHL. Last year, the Public Vehicles Department (PVD) reported a fourfold increase in EV registrations between 2021 and 2022 in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.
The city already has EV cabs with operators like ‘Snap-E’ which expanded its fleet from 400 to 600, followed by the launch of UBER Green EV cabs this year.
Circular dependency of charging point + parking spot
Leading global app – ‘PlugShare’ shows that, on average, there are 72 public and enterprise charging stations with real-time availability across the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.
EVs and charging infrastructure have a circular dependency, and the point of convergence is parking slots. Due to the strong reciprocity between parking and EV charging infrastructure, the first stage in the process of listing an EV charging station is the ‘digitisation’ of parking slots in residential, commercial and public areas.
KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) is in the process of having an app interface to pre-book slots and implement tariff collection for car parking. NKDA (New Town Kolkata Development Authority) which administers the New Town Kolkata Township, has already digitised and incorporated FASTag (a nationwide electronic toll collection system) in more than five arenas in the township that even allow pre-booking of car parking slots.
All the leading shopping malls in the city also upgraded their parking infrastructure with ‘FASTag’ to minimise longer queues at charging points.
KMC (Kolkata Municipal Corporation) also recently made an amendment in its building rules, stipulating large projects (total built-up area exceeding 20,000 sqm) to have EV charging facilities in at least 50% of their parking.
Available parking spaces offer synergy as charging station
Parking spaces in shopping malls and office parks end up under-utilized overnight. However, they can be capitalised by providing PCAAS (Parking and Charging as a Service). In the times to come, DISCOMs (Power Distribution Companies) will incentivise overnight charging by lowering tariffs, as is already prevalent in Europe.
For every EV vehicle on the road, there is a spare parking with a home-charger, which can also be monetised. Homologous usage through enterprise apps like “Co-Charger” remunerates owners in the UK through peer-to-peer monetisation. Solutions like these have the potential to declutter dense areas of Kolkata by freeing up road space utilised for street parking.
Conclusion
Kolkata currently has a volume of around 3,500 EVs among all types. This number is projected to exceed 355,000 by the end of 2030 as per the ‘Kolkata Comprehensive Electric Mobility Plan’ – a recent report jointly prepared by the Asian Development Bank and Niti Ayog. The evolution of the current EV ecosystem in Kolkata, albeit at a nascent stage, has been a result of initiatives of a wide range of stakeholders. This will prove integral to the mass adoption of EVs in the city, as in the next 2-3 years, leading manufacturers are set to introduce affordable EV vehicles in the Indian market. It waits to be seen if charging stations cum spare parking spaces in shopping malls and office buildings could bring business opportunities, e.g. higher foot traffic, better quality tenants, etc. In the long-term, the ongoing digitisation of parking spaces shall prove to be key drivers of a property.
