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PM E-DRIVE: Centre Rolls Out Rs 2,000 Crore Subsidy Scheme For EV Charging Stations

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PM E-DRIVE: Centre Rolls Out Rs 2,000 Crore Subsidy Scheme For EV Charging Stations


New Delhi: The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has issued operational guidelines which earmark an outlay of Rs 2,000 crore for offering subsidies of up to 100 per cent for setting up public charging stations for electric vehicles in cities and across highways under the Rs 10,900 crore PM E-DRIVE scheme. Government premises such as offices, hospitals, educational institutions and central public sector enterprises will receive 100 per cent subsidy on both upstream infrastructure and EV charging equipment, provided the chargers offer free public access, the guidelines state.

In the case of bus stations operated by state transport undertakings, metro stations, municipal parking lots, public sector ports and NHAI /state government controlled toll plazas and way-side amenities on highways and expressways, the subsidy will cover 80 per cent of upstream infrastructure and 70 per cent of EV supply equipment cost.

Locations like airports, railway stations, fuel retail outlets of state-run oil marketing companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, metro stations and bus depots will get 80 per cent subsidy on infrastructure and 70 per cent on charging equipment. Battery swapping and charging stations are also covered, with 80 per cent subsidy support.

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The scheme will give priority to urban centres with a population of over one million, smart cities, satellite towns connected to 7 metros (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad), state capitals, and high-density national and state highways. Public transport hubs such as railway stations, airports, and fuel retail outlets have also been earmarked for receiving infrastructure support.

Public sector giant Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has been designated as the Project Implementation Agency, while IFCI will serve as the Project Management Agency. BHEL will also develop a National Unified Hub and mobile app to integrate EV chargers, offering discovery, real-time updates, slot booking and payment facilities.

Subsidy disbursement will be done in two stages — 70 per cent at the procurement stage and the remaining 30 per cent after commissioning and integration with the Unified Hub.

The guidelines have also finalised the charging standards which stipulate up to 12 kW for two- and three-wheelers, and 50 kW to 500 kW fast chargers for cars, buses and trucks.



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UPI transactions hit record Rs 29.53 lakh crore in March; volumes cross 22.6 billion – The Times of India

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UPI transactions hit record Rs 29.53 lakh crore in March; volumes cross 22.6 billion – The Times of India


Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions touched a record high in March, with both value and volume hitting new peaks, driven by festive spending and financial year-end activity, according to PTI.Data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) showed that UPI transactions totalled Rs 29.53 lakh crore in value during March, up 19 per cent from Rs 24.77 lakh crore in the same month last year.On a month-on-month basis, transaction value rose 10 per cent from Rs 26.84 lakh crore recorded in February.In volume terms, UPI registered 22.64 billion transactions during the month, marking a 24 per cent increase from 18.3 billion transactions a year ago. The volume was 20.39 billion in February.Average daily transactions stood at 730 million, with an average daily value of Rs 95,243 crore, as spending picked up during festivals such as Holi and Eid.“The sustained growth in the digital payment ecosystem in India is an affirmation of the penetration of real-time payment systems in the day-to-day life of the people. UPI processed 22.64 billion transactions worth 29.53 lakh crore in March 2026, marking its emergence as one of the trusted payment systems in the country,” said Anand Kumar Bajaj, MD & CEO of PayNearby.UPI now accounts for around 85 per cent of all digital transactions in India and contributes nearly 50 per cent of global real-time digital payments.The platform is operational in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France and Mauritius, with its entry into France marking its first expansion into Europe.NPCI, an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Banks’ Association, operates UPI, enabling real-time peer-to-peer and merchant payments across the country.



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Minimum wage rises to £12.71 an hour as firms warn of impact

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Minimum wage rises to £12.71 an hour as firms warn of impact


But Spencer says his business is being squeezed from every angle – as well as minimum wage, he has had increases in business rates, national insurance, and statutory sick pay. He also expects energy bills to go up because of the war in the Middle East.



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Visa launches new AI tools to manage the charge dispute process

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Visa launches new AI tools to manage the charge dispute process


Visa Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Visa is launching six new tools using artificial intelligence to modernize the process of disputing credit card charges, the company told CNBC exclusively.

The digital payments company said the tools are designed to reduce the costs and frustration of “outdated” dispute processes for multiple entities involved in the payments process: merchants, issuers and acquirers.

“Some of the challenges are these back-office systems are still largely manual,” Andrew Torre, Visa’s president of value-added services, told CNBC. “We really had to think differently about how we approach this at scale.”

In 2025, Torre said, Visa processed more than 103 million charge disputes globally, marking a 35% increase since 2019.

“Our goal is to streamline this as much as possible,” Torre said. “We’d love to be able to see that growth rate come down.”

Visa’s new tools are part of a larger push by major banks and financial institutions to incorporate AI into their businesses — both internally and in consumer-facing applications. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have both said they’re already using AI to hire fewer people. BNY spent $3.8 billion on technology in 2025, or about 19% of its revenue.

Visa said three of its six new tools focus on merchants, allowing them to address potential disputes before they escalate, managing disputes with generative AI responses and providing a deeper level of detail on order insights to manage confusion over unfamiliar charges.

For example, Torre said, many disputes are borne out of cardholders not recognizing a specific charge on their statements. With the new tool, Visa will be able to provide further details to financial institutions to show cardholders that data at a deeper level, according to the company.

The other three tools are built for issuers and acquirers, using predictive AI models to aid in case-by-case analysis, analyzing documents for summaries and auto fill and establishing an AI-powered dispute platform to manage the entire process in one location, Visa said.

“We’ll be able to get them insights and data so they can move from being reactive to proactive,” Torre said.

Torre said Visa’s new AI tools are part of a broader host of solutions for consumers, including a subscription manager announced last week that allows cardholders to cancel unnecessary subscriptions directly on the manager.

The automation will save time, money and unnecessary confusion for both parties, he added. Most of the tools will be generally available later this year, the company said.

“We really believe that disputes in this solution makes it much easier to manage and resolve,” Torre said. “We think it has better outcomes for everyone.”

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