Chennai: Electric vehicle charging stations in India have seen a nine-fold increase in the last two years, rising from 1800 in February 2022 to 16,347 in March 2024.
By 2030, electric vehicles are projected to make up almost one-third of India's passenger vehicle market. By 2030, India is projected to have around 50 million EVs on its roads, with a market size expected to reach $48.6 billion. To achieve a ratio of 1-40 EVs to charging infrastructure, India will need to install over 400,000 chargers annually, totalling 1.32 million chargers by 2030.
“India needs to scale up public charging infrastructure to meet the growing demand and reduce range anxiety,” said Rohit Chaturvedi, Partner, Forvis Mazars in India.
According to Forvis Mazars, India's charging infrastructure demands are unique due to the dominance of two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which primarily utilise AC slow charging and battery swapping. In contrast, four-wheelers and buses require a mix of AC and DC charging solutions. Home and workplace charging is expected to dominate for private two-wheelers and four-wheelers, while commercial fleets will rely on private depots or public charging networks. DC fast chargers will cater to the growing demand for public charging as the four-wheeler EV stock increases.
The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme provides incentives for EV adoption and charging infrastructure growth. The Ministry of Heavy Industries approved 2,877 EV charging stations across multiple states and 1,576 stations on 16 highways and 9 expressways. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) targets semi-public charging at 20 per cent of all vehicle holding capacity, with additional power load requirements for premises.
Globally, electric car sales surged by 27 per cent in 2023, reaching 13.09 million vehicles. This rapid increase underscores the critical need for a robust charging infrastructure to support the growing number of EVs, which totalled more than 40 million by 2024.
