Govt Launches Drive to Expand Public EV Charging Network

The federal government has issued implementation manuals for the launch of some 72,300 public electric vehicle (EV) charging outlets across the country, along with a subsidy bridge of ₹2,000 crore from the ₹10,900 crore PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Excellence (PM E-DRIVE) framework.

The manuals adopt a multi-tiered subsidy approach to help develop EV charging stations at multiple locations. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) will be the project implementation agency (PIA) for the rollout. The subsidy will be paid in two rounds based on satisfactory compliance and performance milestones.

As long as the chargers are made available to the public at no cost, government-owned buildings, such as workplaces, apartment buildings, hospitals, and educational institutions, will be eligible for a 100% subsidy on both upstream infrastructure and EV charging equipment.

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In the case of charging stations in urban areas (such as in city streets, shopping malls and market complexes) and on highways/expressways, the government will subsidise 80% of the upstream infrastructure costs. This subsidy rate would also apply to battery swapping and battery charging stations set up anywhere.

Per the guidelines, eligible entities (like central ministries and state or Union Territory governments) will be required to identify nodal agencies to aggregate demand for public charging stations (PCSs) and submit application(s) to the Ministry of Heavy Industries.