Focus on reliability, access, interoperability of charging infra, says HD Kumaraswamy

Minister of Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy on Monday called for a shift in priorities in India’s electric vehicle charging ecosystem, urging stakeholders to focus on service quality and seamless user experience rather than only expanding the number of charging points.

“Going forward, the focus must move beyond just adding more charging points. What we need now is reliability, ease of access, and most importantly, interoperability,” Kumaraswamy said while officially launching the new industry consortium Light Electric-Vehicle Acceleration Forum  focused on advancing the EV charging ecosystem.

India’s electric vehicle adoption remains at an early stage, with charging infrastructure widely seen as a key bottleneck to faster growth. While the number of public charging stations over 29,000 sites, industry participants continue to face challenges such as multiple charging service provider applications, different payment systems and non-functional stations.

These operational gaps have become more visible as vehicle adoption gathers pace. With an ambition to achieve a 30% electric vehicle market share by 2030, adoption is steadily rising across segments. In 2025, electric vehicles accounted for about 8% of total automobile sales in the country, led primarily by electric two-wheelers, which made up around 56% of total registrations.

However, infrastructure deployment has not kept pace with vehicle growth. The ratio of electric vehicles to public chargers increased sharply from 12:1 in 2024 to 20:1 in 2025, indicating that vehicle adoption is accelerating faster than charging capacity expansion.

To address this gap, the government has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore under the Rs 10,000 crore PM E-Drive scheme to support the rollout of public charging stations, battery swapping stations and battery charging infrastructure across the country.

Industry stakeholders say improving reliability and interoperability of charging networks will be critical to reducing range anxiety and supporting the next phase of electric mobility adoption in India.

The LEAF forum aims to advance interoperability across charging networks, improve the reliability and consistency of the user experience, and expand public access to charging infrastructure. Interoperability initiatives for LEVs, including LECCS (Light Electric Combined Charging System)- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (IS 17017 Part 2/Sec 7) as a combined AC/DC "Type 7” connector supporting slow and fast charging, are taking shape and enabling unified communication and roaming across networks.