Tuesday, 13 October 2026
India's EV transition will succeed only when its charging infrastructure delivers reliable uptime at scale.
India's EV transition will succeed only when its charging infrastructure delivers reliable uptime at scale.
Lalita SubrahmanyamIndia's challenge with EV transition is not about manufacturing, or even adoption. It is a challenge with infrastructure execution, with fast charging as the main issue. Slow and semi-fast chargers may be sufficient to serve residential and workplace use but cannot support fleet movement and intercity travel.
The EV market in India is experiencing double digit growth year-on-year, with a steady increase in the adoption of two-, three-, and four-wheel EVs. In the calendar year 2025, India registered approximately 2.27 million EVs, and it is expected that 30% of new vehicle sales in India will be electric by 2030.
However, the growth of public charging stations has expanded from a mere 5,151 in December 2022 to approximately 29,277 in August 2025, even with the support of policy incentives and infrastructure programs. India's public charger-to-EV ratio of approximately 1:235 (as of 2025) signals significant deployment gaps compared to global standards.
With DC-based fast chargers, vehicles can quickly return to service, entire fleets can confidently get electrified and long-distance EV travel can turn viable. Without high-power, high-uptime charging it is not possible for intercity travel, shared mobility, commercial fleets and passenger EVs to function at scale. Delay in deploying the required charging infrastructure is not only about inconveniencing users. It will also delay and suppress the adoption of EVs, weakening the economics of the EV sector across the value chain.
The real value of chargers does not lie in their numbers. It lies in their location, and the effectiveness, reliable uptime, and power they offer, backed by scalable grid capacity.
The PM E-Drive scheme was initiated in October 2024, with funds earmarked for capital subsidies and policy facilitation of public charging infrastructure, as part of a total scheme outlay of Rs.10,900 crore. The initiative aimed to accelerate EV adoption by deploying approximately 72,300 fast chargers in public spaces. The focus was on urban centres, transport corridors with heavy traffic, malls, and depots. On paper, the scheme has improved the viability of public charging stations and fleet-oriented deployments.
In practice, the policy caps the investment eligible for tariff relief, directly constraining the charging network investments that automakers had planned. Subsidies under the scheme support the costs of installation and the hardware. But they do not cover any operational costs like maintenance, grid connection charges, ongoing CMS costs or uptime. This leads to a situation where the assets are under-utilised.
There are also other execution gaps:
The ground reality is that EV owners keep encountering non-functional chargers, or slow or intermittent chargers. Data tabled in Parliament shows that of 27,737 public charging stations installed as of March 2026, only 22,753 were operational, an 18% national non-functional rate, with specific networks performing far worse. Operational readiness needs to be diligently tracked to ensure uptime, and non-performance discouraged with suitable penalties.
Charging loads can act as intermittent heavy loads on the grid. Upgrading a local distribution transformer for a high-capacity charging hub can cost anywhere between ₹6 lakh and ₹24 lakh per charger for upstream infrastructure, per benchmark costs published under the PM E-Drive Scheme, with new dedicated feeders or substation augmentation adding to costs further at the hub level.
For operators, electricity tariffs can also vary significantly between peak and off-peak periods. Ministry of Power guidelines set supply rates to public charging stations at 0.8 times the average cost of supply during solar hours and 1.2 times during non-solar hours, producing time-of-day differentials that typically range from ₹1–3 per kWh depending on state, affecting charging economics and utilisation patterns.
A single fast DC charger can draw anywhere from 50 kW for passenger vehicles to 500 kW for heavy commercial vehicles, per Ministry of Heavy Industries standards under the PM E-Drive Scheme. Creating a cluster of them, without scheduling the load smartly, can stress local distribution networks, degrade grid quality, and necessitate upgrades.
Key grid-related challenges include:
To mitigate these risks, the grid network's functioning needs to be addressed proactively, limiting voltage instability, outages and curtailment risks. Some strategies include:
Grid readiness means more than capacity; it demands voltage stability to absorb sudden demand spikes without tripping circuit breakers.
Local distribution transformers and underground cables must be capable of handling the concentrated, industrial-scale loads that commercial charging hubs generate. Smart digital routing that throttles charging during peak demand and accelerates it during off-peak windows is the practical alternative to expensive grid overhauls.
Charging point operators (CPOs) are caught in a dilemma. Their profitability depends directly on utilisation, uptime, and throughput.
A CPO’s revenues are affected by:
From a capital allocation perspective, fast charging must be evaluated as infrastructure with operating leverage, not retail real estate with footfall assumptions.
Private investors face deterrents: unpredictable tariff structures, DSM penalties and the absence of clear time-of-use price signals that would assure returns.
CPOs are trying to smoothen revenue flows by experimenting with:
To succeed, these models would need predictable demand and disciplined operations and maintenance of charging stations subscribed to. This would call for a standard definition of uptime applicable to all CPOs, performance dashboards in the public domain, and penalties and incentives linked to performance.
To unlock maximum utility, charging hubs must be treated as core civic infrastructure, embedded directly into urban land-use planning, public transit systems, and high-density mobility corridors.
The Ministry of Power's Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (2024), issued on 17 September 2024, mandates charger installation readiness in residential complexes, workplaces, transit hubs, bus depots, and parking structures. So far, New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru have made EV charging readiness legally mandatory for building occupancy certificates. Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior and Ujjain are proposed as 'Model EV Cities' under the Madhya Pradesh Draft EV Policy 2025, which awaits final notification. Otherwise, efforts are localised, and linked to major events. There are no holistic strategies that are tied to land use and traffic flows.
Fast charging in cities needs careful planning, as the need for proper placement must be balanced against challenges like land scarcity, congestion and fragmented authority. Resolving this bottleneck is highly complex, given that urban execution models must actively address:
Cities need to include fast charging into their transport and energy planning, to achieve higher utilisation and lower conflict. Smart siting based on utilisation and traffic patterns maximises ROI and helps reduce downtime and friction with access. Cities benefit too from better air quality and mobility outcomes, and lower stress on local grids.
Power connections, hardware, real-estate and grid upgrades drive up capital costs while revenues depend on uptime and utilisation.
To be counted as valuable, fast chargers need to be in working order. But India has so far found uptime among one of the weakest links in its charging ecosystem.
This operational failure is caused by:
A charger that exists but does not work creates more friction than one that was never installed.
Limited availability of charging might fare better than the complete unreliability of a charging station with a clientele of commercial users and fleet operators. For fast chargers to deliver sustained economic value, uptime needs to be accorded primary consideration as a core metric, not as an afterthought.
Continued execution failure can affect investor appetite, fleet electrification, and the intercity EV confidence of consumers. Because the fast-charging deficit sits at the nexus of energy infrastructure, transit logistics, and urban systems, resolving it demands immediate, synchronised action across both public utilities and private operators. Coordination between utilities, cities, operators, automakers, and regulators is important here.
Way ahead
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