Govt to set up 4,874 EV chargers across India worth ₹503 crore under PM E-Drive scheme

The Indian government has approved proposals worth ₹503.86 crore for installing 4,874 EV chargers across the country under the PM E-Drive scheme to support the wider adoption of electric vehicles with a supporting infrastructure. The proposal includes allocation of ₹123.26 crore for setting up 1,243 chargers in Karnataka alone. Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy announced the approval of the proposals on May 12.

The approved electric vehicle charging infrastructure will be deployed across several states in India, which include Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Under this proposal, the state-owned OMCs like the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) are among the key implementing agencies for these projects.

The proposed EV charging stations will be set up in the petrol pumps of these OMCs. The proposal also revealed that this EV charging infrastructure will support electric vehicles across segments like cars, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses, and trucks. Speaking about the plan, Kumaraswamy has said that under the FAME scheme, OMCs have installed 8,932 EV chargers across the country with a total subsidy of ₹8,735 crore disbursed by his ministry. Of these, 721 EV chargers have been installed in Karnataka.

The scheme also provisions ₹3,679 crore towards demand incentives to support the adoption of 24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers and 3.16 lakh electric three-wheelers. Additionally, the scheme has earmarked ₹4,391 crore for the deployment of 14,028 electric buses across the country. The government has also allocated ₹780 crore for the modernisation of vehicle testing agencies under the heavy industries ministry.

Source