India’s electric vehicle (EV) market surpassed the one million registration mark in the first half of FY26, even as monthly numbers in September showed a slight slowdown in passenger EV sales, according to the Economic Times.
Government Vahan data showed total EV registrations in September at 1.82 lakh units, down 3 percent from 1.88 lakh units in August. However, second-quarter volumes rose to 5.70 lakh units from 5.33 lakh units in Q1 FY26, reflecting steady overall growth. Cumulative registrations for H1 FY26 reached 1.1 million units, up from 8.95 lakh units during the same period last year.
The slowdown was led by the electric passenger vehicle (e-PV) category, which fell sharply to 15,100 units in September from 18,290 units in August. Analysts attributed the decline to recent GST cuts on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and hybrids, which widened the price gap with electric models.
“GST reductions on hybrids and ICE vehicles have made them more attractive to price-sensitive buyers, pulling EV penetration in the passenger vehicle segment down from nearly 5 percent to about 4 percent,” said Puneet Gupta, Director at S&P Global Mobility. Poonam Upadhyay, Director at Crisil Ratings, added, “The industry needs to focus on charging infrastructure, affordable financing, and total cost-of-ownership awareness to sustain EV adoption.”
Electric two-wheeler registrations held steady at 1.04 lakh units, while e-three-wheeler volumes were slightly lower at 61,000 units in September. TVS Motor led two-wheeler sales with 22,491 units, followed by Bajaj Auto with 19,554 units. Ather Energy maintained stable volumes at 18,122 units, while Ola Electric and Hero MotoCorp saw slight declines.
Industry watchers say the coming months will be key to determining whether the September dip in passenger EV sales is temporary or signals a longer-term impact from tax policy changes.
