The Government has accelerated the pace of setting up electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure with a focus on 9 major cities, each with a population of over 4 million, to promote the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, according to information provided by the Ministry of Power.
Currently, India has a total of 1,640 operational public EV chargers. Out of which, 9 cities including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Surat, Pune, Ahmedabad account for 940 stations.
There has been additional installation of 678 public EV charging stations between October 2021 to January 2022 in these 9 cities, which is about 2.5 times the earlier numbers, during the same period. As many as 1.8 lakh electric vehicles were sold in the country during this period.
The fast expansion in charging stations has encouraged consumers to shift towards electric mobility. After the saturation of EV infrastructure in these mega cities, the government has plans to expand the coverage to other cities in a phased manner, the Power Ministry said.
The availability of adequate charging infrastructure had been the key impediments for accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in India. In this regard, the Ministry of Power issued "Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles—Guidelines and Standards," describing the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders at the Central and State level for expeditious deployment of public EV charging infrastructure across the country.
The public sector Oil Marketing Companies have announced the setting up of 22,000 EV charging stations in prominent cities and on national highways across the country.
Out of 22,000 EV charging stations, 10,000 will be installed by Indian Oil Corporation, 7,000 will be installed by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), and the rest of 5,000 will be installed by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL).
Indian Oil has already installed 439 EV charging stations and plans to install another 2,000 EV charging stations over the next year. BPCL has installed 52 charging stations, while HPCL has installed 382 charging stations.
The Department of Heavy Industry has recently sanctioned 1576 Public Charging Stations for 25 Highways and Expressways which will be located within every 25 km of range on both sides of these motorways.
Private sector companies are also showing an interest in setting up charging stations which is expected to add to the momentum of the green vehicles.
