NEW DELHI: Electric vehicles (EVs) charging infrastructure will be available at every four kilometres in big cities within a year, following the award of 2,600 charging stations to state-run companies, said people aware of the matter. This would address the issue of anxiety over the range of EVs, they said.The govt has given in-principle nod to firms including NTPC, EESL and REIL but actual sanctions of the contracts would be made only after the public sector units sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) for land where the charging stations are proposed, said the people. They said this would ensure the companies do not squat on the contracts.A significant chunk of orders for setting up the stations in 62 cities with million-plus population have been bagged by Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Ltd and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). NTPC and Power Grid Corp have also emerged as low bidders for the stations.“We will give the final award to these companies only when they are able to produce MoU for land where the charging points are proposed to be located. We have issued 600-700 sanctions so far and expect award for all contracts in a month,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.“Once these stations are set up, there will be charging stations at every four km in millionplus cities. This will help us inch closer to our target of having a charging point at every three km distance,” he said.The official also said the companies have been asked to begin the award process for the contracts based on the in-principle nod from the Department of Heavy Industries.The urban local bodies of Dehradun, Guwahati and Tirupati, and municipal corporations of Navi Mumbai and Bhubaneswar, have also bagged some of the contracts under the Fame II – Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles – subsidy scheme, which targets electrification of public and shared transportation and laying of charging infrastructure for EVs.