Charging Infra Remains Important Enabler for Rapid EV Adoption: Hanif Qureshi

As all the major automakers in India have rolled out their fully electric vehicles, limited charging infrastructure is the biggest barrier to faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country. According to Hanif Qureshi, additional secretary of Ministry of Heavy Industries, charging infrastructure still remains a very important infrastructure enabler for rapid growth of electric vehicles in the country. 

"Charging infrastructure remains a very important infrastructure enabler for the rapid growth of electric vehicles. That is why in the PM E-Drive scheme, we have allocated funds for setting up charging stations for all vehicle categories," Qureshi said while speaking at the 65th annual convention of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Close to 30,000 public EV charging stations are currently installed in the country. However, India lags behind many matured electric vehicle markets in charging infrastructure. The government and the industry has been pushing for higher charger-to-vehicle density, advocating that it is critical to encourage more consumers to transition to electric vehicles by alleviating range anxiety.

One of the major highlights of the PM E-Drive has been its higher focus on supporting the charging infrastructure. The scheme targets to support 22,100 fast chargers for four-wheelers, 1,800 for buses, and 48,400 for two and three-wheelers with an outlay of Rs 2,000 crore. The guidelines are subsidies to be given for setting up charging stations are also being finalised.

Earlier, Qureshi also emphasised the importance of strategically placing EV charging stations in EV-dense cities, claiming that indiscriminately installing charging stations across the country in areas with low electric vehicle penetration would be a waste of resources.

Meanwhile, apart from charge point operators, automakers including Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Ather and Hyundai are setting up charging infrastructure across the country. India's largest electric maker, Tata Motors, is planning to grow its electric vehicle charging infrastructure fivefold to over 1 lakh by the end of this decade, as it looks to address concerns over range anxiety and inadequate charging infrastructure.