The Indian government has prepared the final draft of guidelines for setting up 72,300 electric vehicle (EV) chargers across the country. In the rules, the Centre has proposed to involve state governments by turning them into "demand aggregators", which will include identifying land and issuing tenders to collect bids for setting up EV charging units, according to two government officials privy to the development.
“The participating state will have to appoint a nodal agency. Their nodal agency will identify land or location for the charging stations. Once that is done, the states will invite tender for demand aggregation. The Centre will disburse the appropriate incentives to the state, which will further give it to the companies that have won bids for setting up EV charging stations,” said one of the officials quoted above.
The official added that the guidelines are under inter-ministerial consultations as of now. "It was sent to at least 12 ministries for review on August 29. After this process, the rules will be notified. Earlier, the plan was to ask central public sector enterprises alone to aggregate demand. Now we have widened the scope and plan to involve states as well,” the official said.
In a first, the upcoming guidelines will also include some incentives for downstream EV charging infrastructure such as EV charging guns or connectors, which deliver electricity from the charging station to the vehicle. This, however, will be offered only for charging units being set up in government complexes, including the ones owned by states.
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As for the key incentive, the guidelines, meant to come up under the ongoing PM E-Drive scheme, will provide up to 80% subsidy for upstream or behind-the-meter infrastructure. This includes electricity supply cost, electrical equipment cost and so on.
States and union territories such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh have already communicated to the Centre about its willingness to identify locations and aggregate demand, officials said. The Central incentives will be over and above what is being offered by different state governments.
Besides, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) such as National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Indian Railways among others will also be asked to identify locations and aggregate demand.
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According to a report by CareEdge Ratings public EV charging stations have grown from 5,151 in calendar year 2022, to 11,903 in CY23, and further to 25,202 by the end of FY24, reaching 26,367 in early FY25.
The PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme is Central government initiative launched in 2024 with a total outlay of Rs 10,900 crore to promote electric mobility by providing subsidies for EV purchases, developing public charging infrastructure, supporting the deployment of electric buses, and upgrading vehicle testing facilities. Key components include demand incentives (subsidies) for buyers of e-2Ws (electric two-wheelers), e-3Ws (electric three-wheelers), e-trucks, and e-ambulances, as well as grants for public transport agencies to acquire e-buses and funding for the installation of EV chargers nationwide. The scheme was recently extended until FY28.
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