EV Charging Conundrum: Why Do We Need More? India's cumulative installed EV charging points—public and captive—will need to grow nearly 12 to 28 times to support growth

India is on the brink of a seismic shift in mobility, with projections estimating 123 million electric vehicles (EVs) on its roads by 2032 under the National EV Targets (NEV) scenario. Although the Indian government is pushing towards the adoption of EVs, the reality is different. India's current infrastructure is not yet capable of supporting the scale of the envisioned EV revolution. India's cumulative installed EV charging points will need to grow nearly 12 to 28 times by 2032 to fuel expansion. "To support the projected EV growth, we can anticipate that India's cumulative installed EV charging points—public and captive—will need to grow nearly 12 to 28 times, from around 76,000 in 2024 to between 0.9 million and 2.1 million by 2032," said Debmalya Sen, president of the India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), adding that installed charging capacity must also scale more than 17 times, rising from 1.3 GW to 23 GW.

This ambitious outlook, presented in a report titled 'India Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Market Overview' by IESA and Customized Energy Solutions (CES), reflects the government's aggressive push to decarbonize the transport sector and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

By 2030, India aims to electrify 80 per cent of two and three-wheelers, 30 per cent of private four-wheelers, 70 per cent of commercial cars, and 40 per cent of buses. These targets align with the broader national goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, and they place the transport sector at the heart of India's energy transition.

"India's roadmap to net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 relies heavily on the rapid adoption of electric mobility, and two-wheelers are central to that shift. Motorcycles alone make up nearly 70 per cent of India's vehicle market, making them a powerful lever for reducing emissions at scale," said Dinkar Agrawal, founder, CTO & COO, Oben Electric. "As a make-in-India brand, our electric motorcycles use high-performance LFP battery technology that delivers twice the lifecycle and 50 per cent higher heat resistance than conventional batteries, while eliminating reliance on harmful cobalt and nickel."

The report underscores the momentum already underway. Between 2019 and 2024, India's on-road lithium-ion EV population grew twelve-fold, from 0.35 million to 4.4 million. This surge has been largely driven by government incentives under the FAME-II scheme, which subsidizes electric vehicles and public charging infrastructure. As of 2024, electric two and three-wheelers make up over 93 per cent of India's EV stock, while four-wheelers account for about six per cent, and buses and trucks together remain below one per cent.

"By 2032, IESA and CES project that India's on-road EV stock could reach approximately 49 million (worst case), 60 million (business-as-usual), or 123 million (NEV scenario)," said Vinayak Walimbe, MD, Customized Energy Solutions India. "The NEV scenario is based on the EV30@30 ambition… fully aligning with NITI Aayog's vision for transport electrification."

Yet, this transition is not without friction. As adoption increases, India's EV charging infrastructure faces mounting pressure. The report shows that in 2024, India had roughly 76,000 cumulative public and captive charging points, with a combined installed capacity of 1.3 GW. Most personal electric four-wheelers (E4Ws), about 220,000 by 2024, relied on Type-2 AC chargers at homes or residential complexes, indicating the early stages of a largely decentralized charging ecosystem.

EVs are crucial in India's plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. "However, infrastructural challenges hinder widespread adoption. The ratio of EVs to public chargers in India is about 1:400, significantly higher than in countries like China and the US," said Dhiraj Agrawal, chief business officer, Mufin Green Finance.

Another challenge is the cost of EVs, largely driven by expensive lithium-ion batteries. This has slowed down mass-market adoption, especially in the absence of sufficient domestic manufacturing. Compounding the issue is the reality that a significant portion of India's electricity still comes from coal, diluting the environmental benefits of switching to EVs.

Vishal Gupta, co-founder & CTO, MaxVolt Energy Industries Limited, supported this by emphasizing the double bind: "Although EVs have vast potential in India, the adoption is hindered by infrastructural bottlenecks… The biggest hurdle is still charging infrastructure… and the electricity generation from coal nullifies much of the environmental benefits of EVs."

Gupta further pointed to gaps in state-level policy execution, which often stalls national efforts. "There is a national policy in support of EVs, but progress comes to a halt due to patchy state-level implementation," he noted. A holistic strategy is needed, one that integrates infrastructure expansion, renewable energy, manufacturing incentives, and widespread public awareness.

Dinkar Agrawal echoed this sentiment, highlighting other critical ecosystem challenges saying, "India's EV transition is moving in the right direction, but several foundational challenges need to be addressed. More importantly, the ecosystem's overall readiness, ranging from grid capacity and raw material availability to the presence of specialized component suppliers, continues to impact scalability and operational efficiency."

Agrawal further called out the need for tax policy rationalization saying, "Although EVs attract a 5 per cent GST, replacement batteries are taxed at 18 per cent, and raw materials vary between 5 per cent and 28 per cent. Aligning these rates to a uniform 5 per cent would significantly reduce input costs, boost affordability, and enhance local manufacturing."

The broader implications go beyond just clean air and reduced emissions. Siddharth Saneja, head of strategy, Intellicar, framed EV adoption as a matter of national security. "India's path to net-zero by 2070 is inseparable from the electrification of its transport sector, which currently consumes over 55 per cent of our crude oil—most of it imported… Electric vehicles offer a clear solution—not just environmentally, but strategically—aligning national energy security with our climate commitments."