The Government has allocated Rs 2,000 cr under the PM E-DRIVE scheme for the deployment of public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the country, including tribal and backward areas, the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
The ministry has issued operational guidelines for the deployment of EV public charging stations (EVPCS) under the PM E-DRIVE scheme on September 26, 2025.
Under the scheme, central ministries and departments, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), state governments and Union Territories, along with their PSUs, are eligible to submit proposals for setting up EV public charging stations. Proposals are to be routed through designated nodal agencies, which will aggregate demand for EV charging stations. Implementation may be carried out directly by the eligible entities or through charge point operators (CPOs).
Subsidies, wherever applicable, will be released to the nodal agencies in tranches in accordance with scheme guidelines. The government clarified that setting up EV charging stations is an unlicensed activity, and private players are free to install EV charging infrastructure in line with the Ministry of Power’s guidelines issued on September 17, 2024.
The scheme provides capital subsidies for upstream infrastructure and EV supply equipment, with subsidies of up to 100 per cent depending on the location category. Costs will be benchmarked as per standards set by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
The information was provided by Minister of State for Heavy Industries Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.