Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Shri Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, has informed the Lok Sabha that the Ministry of Power has issued the “Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure 2024” on 17 September 2024.
These guidelines establish standards and protocols to develop a connected, interoperable, and robust EV charging infrastructure network across the country, including facilities for both battery swapping and battery charging stations.
Setting up of EV charging stations (EVCS) is an unlicensed activity, and any institution/entity, including manufacturers of EVs/EV chargers and private entities, is free to set up, operate, and maintain EVCS across India.
An allocation of Rs.2,000 crore has been made under the PM E-DRIVE Scheme, being implemented by the Ministry of Heavy Industries for setting up public EVCS/charging infrastructure on a pan-India basis, including cities and highways.
The entities eligible to receive subsidy funding and submit proposals for EV public charging stations (EVPCS) under the PM E-DRIVE scheme are GoI Ministries, Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)/Autonomous bodies under GoI Ministries, States/Union Territories, and their PSUs. These entities appoint Nodal Agencies to aggregate demand and oversee implementation.
The PM E-DRIVE Scheme provides capital subsidies for upstream infrastructure and EVSE (charging equipment) based on location category:
| Category | Locations | % Subsidy |
| A | State/Central Govt. Premises—Govt. offices, Govt. residential complexes, Govt. hospitals, Govt. educational institutes, CPSEs, or any other Govt. establishments. (said chargers to be available to any private individual for charging their EVs without any restrictions, i.e., free public access) | 100% on Upstream Infrastructure and 100% on EVSE |
| B | Locations in cities and along highways that are owned / controlled / managed by the state / central government or their public sector undertakings, e.g., railway stations, airports (operated & maintained by the Airports Authority of India), retail outlets of public sector OMCs, bus stations operated by STUs, metro stations, municipal parking lots, public sector ports, and NHAI / state government-controlled / managed toll plazas & wayside amenities on highways / expressways. | 80% on Upstream Infrastructure and 70% on EVSE |
| C | All other locations not included in categories A & B, e.g.
Cities—streets, shopping malls, market complexes, etc. Highways/Expressways
|
80% on Upstream Infrastructure |
| D | Battery Swapping Stations (BSS) / Battery Charging Stations (BCS) deployed at any location | 80% on Upstream Infrastructure |
The costs for upstream infrastructure and EVSE are based on benchmarks provided by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) under the Ministry of Power.
The mechanisms put in place to coordinate and effectively implement the installation and maintenance of EV charging stations have been issued by the Ministry of Heavy Industries on 26th September, 2025, in the ‘Operational Guidelines for Deployment of EV Public Charging Stations (EV PCS) under the PM E-DRIVE Scheme.’
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