The India EV Fast Charging Summit, organized by the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), was held in New Delhi to address the urgent need for increased investment in India’s EV charging infrastructure. As the Indian EV market surpasses 4 million sales, industry experts highlighted the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors to accelerate EV adoption and achieve the goal of 30% EV penetration by 2030.
A key focus of the discussions was the role of a robust charging infrastructure in reducing range anxiety for potential EV buyers. According to IESA, India needs an estimated USD 20-30 billion in investment to support the continued growth of the EV sector.
The upcoming PM e-Drive scheme, expected to allocate INR 2,000 crore to incentivize the development of charging infrastructure, was eagerly anticipated by summit participants.
“We are all eagerly awaiting the launch of the PM e-Drive scheme, which offers twice the incentives for charging infrastructure compared to the FAME-II scheme. The ministry is considering state-wise demand allocation based on vehicle density in different regions, as well as factoring in any state-level EV policies and incentives for the charging sector. We hope to see the full framework for the INR 2,000 crore scheme soon,” said Debi Prasad Dash, President of IESA.
PM e-Drive Scheme: The PM e-Drive scheme aims to support the installation of 22,100 fast chargers for four-wheeled EVs, 1,800 fast chargers for e-buses, and 48,400 fast chargers for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
While industry experts view the scheme as a positive step, they stressed the importance of a more strategic allocation of funds. Specifically, they highlighted the need to prioritize investments in upgrading the electricity grid to accommodate the increased demand from EV charging stations.
“In terms of EVs, I’m interested to see what kind of investments will be directed toward charging infrastructure. The U.S. estimates around 20 billion USD, and we’ll see how this translates to India. But it will likely require investments between 20 to 50 billion USD,” said Vinayak Walimbe, Managing Director of CES India.
“PM E-drive allocation is very less to accelerate the public charging infrastructure with that money. Those 2000 crores can be invested in upgrading the electricity infrastructure by providing the funds to the distribution company. If the government supports the distribution company, to create the plug and play and give that to the charge point operator, then it will help the sector much better than instead of spending the money and creating the number,” stated Awadhesh Jha, Executive Director of GLIDA.
The reliability of power supply from DISCOMS (distribution companies) emerged as a critical factor in the success of India’s EV adoption goals. Industry leaders highlighted the need for upgrading transformers and enhancing the electricity grid to ensure a seamless EV charging experience, particularly in rural areas.
EV ecosystem: Furthermore, the summit acknowledged the importance of narrowing the price gap between EVs and traditional vehicles to encourage mass adoption. Recommendations included reducing custom duties and taxes on imported EV components while simultaneously fostering local research and development in battery technology to bolster domestic manufacturing and create employment opportunities. The collective efforts of both the public and private sectors are essential in building a robust and sustainable EV ecosystem in India, ultimately propelling the nation towards its ambitious EV adoption targets.
“The supply of electricity and uptime of power is not there as much. So the moment we get that infra in place, we upgrade our transformers, we upgrade our grids, we will see how the growth of EV will not only be restricted to the urban areas but the rural areas as well,” mentioned Shiraz Khanna, CFO of Exicom.
