Kerala Advances India's First State-Led Electric Truck Corridor on NH-66

Kerala is positioning itself to establish India's first state-led electric truck corridor along National Highway 66, a critical freight route that handles substantial port and industrial cargo movement across the state.

The Kerala State Electricity Board Limited and the International Council on Clean Transportation convened a high-level workshop bringing together government officials, utilities, electric vehicle manufacturers, and logistics operators to develop the state's electric freight roadmap.

At the event, Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty unveiled a web portal designed to streamline implementation of the PM E-DRIVE scheme for privately owned lands. The platform enables eligible Charge Point Operators to register private land parcels meeting Category C requirements, facilitating systematic land aggregation for charging infrastructure proposals to the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

The PM E-DRIVE program allocates ₹2,000 crore toward developing electric truck and bus charging infrastructure along major national and state highways nationwide.

Kerala demonstrated early initiative by submitting land proposals to the ministry before nodal agency designation. Following the release of operational guidelines, KSEBL assumed the nodal agency role and intensified land aggregation efforts.

The state has established significant momentum in clean mobility, with over 300,000 electric vehicles registered and comprising more than 10 percent of new vehicle sales, among India's highest rates.

NH-66 serves as Kerala's primary freight corridor, transporting industrial goods, port cargo, and construction materials. With Vizhinjam Port expansion and growing coastal industrial activity, freight volumes along this route are projected to increase substantially. State officials emphasized that structured electrification planning is essential to manage growing logistics emissions and congestion in densely populated districts including Ernakulam, Kollam, Kozhikode, Alappuzha, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Medium and heavy-duty trucks represent major contributors to road transport pollution in India. Electrifying freight movement along NH-66 offers opportunities to improve air quality, reduce industrial operating costs, and strengthen competitiveness for Kerala's export sectors including rubber, seafood, cashew, and plantations, which face increasing global climate and carbon disclosure requirements.

KSEBL Chairman Minhaj Alam stated the board's responsibility involves translating the national program into a reliable, scalable charging ecosystem for medium and heavy-duty electric trucks.

Additional Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar noted that submissions under PM E-DRIVE would emphasize high-capacity configurations of 120 kilowatt and 240 kilowatt charging systems, reflecting forward-looking planning for long-haul freight operations and next-generation truck platforms.

Transport Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam indicated the department views mobility as both an energy consumer and potential provider. The state plans to develop charging infrastructure with wayside amenities for truck drivers, including facilities equipped with vehicle charging stations and real-time road condition information systems, in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Workshop participants identified high-impact freight electrification use cases, infrastructure deployment strategies, financing models for early adoption, and opportunities to align state actions with national programs.

Through coordinated institutional efforts involving KSEBL, the Power Department, Motor Vehicles Department, EV Accelerator Cell, and local industries, Kerala aims to establish a benchmark for corridor-based electric freight transition in India.