India’s EV charging infrastructure starts to take shape

In the last few months, several private and state-owned enterprises have laid the groundwork for setting up charging stations.

Long cited as one of the most vexing challenges facing electric vehicle (EV) adoption on a household-basis in India, the country’s virtually non-existent EV charging infrastructure has finally begun to take shape. 

The last few months have seen several private and state-owned enterprises begin laying the groundwork for setting up charging station networks, either individually or in partnership with power sector players. For instance, last week saw new entrants to the market — MG Motor — set up its first EV fast-charging station at Gurugram. 

The launch of the station comes just a few weeks ahead of the planned launch of the company’s first EV in India — the MG ZS —and company officials like president and managing director Rajeev Chaba have noted that they would have to set up charging stations first in order to make the EV a convincing proposition for automobile customers.

MG had first partnered with cleantech company Fortum Charge in July this year in order to install fast-charging stations for EVs across India, including NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. 

MG’s planned network, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. According to the Union Ministry for Power, the government is targeting the establishment of at least one public charging station every three square kilometers. “In a grid of 3-by-3 kilometer (km), at least one public charging station will be set up in urban areas. For the highways, at least one fast-charging station is planned for every 100 km,” the ministry’s joint secretary Vivek Kumar Dewangan had said earlier this month. 

The ministry had made things easier for industry units to enter the segment in April last year by removing the requirement for a license to provide EV charging stations, making it possible for any entity to set up such a network. Public charging standard norms and guidelines for EVs were notified in December 2018.

Earlier this year, the Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) had also invited proposals for deploying electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the country’s big and smart cities under the government’s FAME program. 

The relaxation in norms has led to a steady stream of companies announcing plans to set up such networks across the country. For instance, the electronics manufacturing division of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) issued a Request for Information (RFI) earlier this month to identify a potential Indian partner in the segment.

The selected entity, it said, would need to share EV technology if already developed or provide technical expertise and know-how for the joint development of such solutions. Fellow PSU National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) too signed pacts with cab aggregators like Ola, Lithium, Shuttl, Bikxie, Bounce, Electrie and Zoom Car earlier this year for the creation of EV infrastructure. 

Private players catching up

Aside from MG Motor, the last week saw Ola Electric Mobility signing a deal with power discoms BSES Yamuna Power Limited and BSES Rajdhani Power Limited to bring charging stations to New Delhi.