NEW DELHI, 4th March 2025
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra have the most public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in India, totalling 6,027.
Tamil Nadu is at the forefront of expanding the nation's charging infrastructure, with 672 EV chargers. Andhra Pradesh follows with 507 chargers, while Maharashtra comes in third with 515 chargers.
Bhupathiraju Srinivas Verma, India's Minister of State for Heavy Industries, presented the information to the Rajya Sabha, stating that Rs 893 crores have been set aside for the FAME 2 scheme, with approximately Rs 633.44 crores being spent as of March 1, 2025.
In addition to the top three states, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka are seeing an increase in EV charging, with 520, 471, and 489 charging stations, respectively.
Conversely, some states have a limited number of charging stations, such as Delhi with 84, Uttarakhand with 46, Jammu & Kashmir with 38, Haryana with 43, and Himachal Pradesh. The northeastern states are still lagging, with Sikkim, Mizoram, Tripura, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands having only a handful of charging stations.
Minister Raju stated in his remarks that the Ministry of Power's "Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure-2024," which were issued on September 17, 2024, promote charging during solar hours through reduced tariffs, the integration of renewable energy in bus depots, and the encouragement of solar ports for EV charging.
These guidelines emphasize the value of public-private partnerships in improving the EV charging infrastructure. Establishing EV charging stations has been designated as a de-licensed activity, which simplifies the process for businesses.
To facilitate access to land at reasonable rates, it has been proposed that public land be made available to the government or public entities on a revenue-sharing basis of Rs. 1 per kWh.
Private entities may gain access to the land through a competitive bidding process that begins at a minimum price of Rs. 1 per kWh.
Furthermore, it has been proposed that public tenders for government-designated battery swapping stations remain technology-neutral. State Governments have been encouraged to allow continuous operations of these Battery Swapping Stations.