California regulatory authorities have given their approval to Volkswagen's first phase plan to install electric vehicle charging stations in the US state. 

This plan will be implemented by the company's Electrify America unit as part of a settlement in 2016 after the vehicle manufacturer admitted to programming millions of diesel vehicles to cheat on emissions rules, reported Latimes.com.

The California Air Resources Board gave its approval to the company's first phase plan under which it intends to invest $200m over 30 months. 

"The company plans to invest $800m to support use of emission-free vehicles in the state over the next decade."

The company plans to invest a total of $800m to support use of emission-free vehicles in the state over the next decade.

The company intends to allocate the money on building a network of 400 charging stations, public education programmes and 'green city' initiative to showcase the advantages of zero emissions vehicles.

California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols was quoted by Sfgate.com as saying: “We are pleased that Volkswagen can now move forward with its ambitious plan to help bring electric vehicle technology to corners of California ignored in earlier efforts.” 

According to estimates, the company's spending will create up to 8% of the necessary charging infrastructure in the near future.