New Delhi: India’s electric vehicle (EV) industry needs to strengthen cost competitiveness, localisation and manufacturing capabilities to support an affordable and economically sustainable transition to electric mobility, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy said, EV Infrastructure News reported.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) organised an event at Vigyan Bhawan to gather feedback from EV users and distributors on vehicle adoption, usage patterns and the development of the country’s electric mobility ecosystem.
Kumaraswamy highlighted the government’s Rs 11,900-crore PM E-DRIVE scheme, under which more than 23.2 lakh electric vehicles have received incentives. As of July 1, Rs 2,281.94 crore had been reimbursed under the programme.
The government is also expanding charging infrastructure through PM E-DRIVE. The scheme aims to support the development of more than 72,000 public charging points by providing subsidies for charging equipment and related upstream infrastructure.
The scheme provides Rs 4,391 crore for electric buses, Rs 2,000 crore for charging infrastructure and Rs 500 crore for electric trucks.
The PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme was initially announced in August 2024 with an outlay of Rs 10,900 crore.
India’s public charging network has expanded rapidly, but concerns over reliability and affordability continue to pose challenges to wider EV adoption. Charger uptime, interoperability, public charging costs and grid connectivity remain among the issues affecting the charging ecosystem.
The minister said PM E-DRIVE, along with the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for automobiles and advanced chemistry cell (ACC) batteries, is helping strengthen domestic EV manufacturing and infrastructure.Kumaraswamy stressed the need for an “inclusive, affordable and economically sustainable” transition to electric mobility. He said greater localisation, technological development and improved cost competitiveness would be critical to the continued development of India’s EV industry.
