Overview
- Union minister H D Kumaraswamy, speaking Tuesday in Bengaluru, said proposals have been approved to fund 4,874 public EV chargers with a total outlay of ₹50,386 crore, including ₹1,232.6 crore for 1,243 chargers in Karnataka.
- The ministry is building a unified system that lets any EV driver find, book, unlock, and pay at public chargers on one app, modeled on how UPI lets any bank customer pay any merchant.
- NPCI has developed the National Unified EV Charging Hub framework and BHEL is developing the Unified Bharat e‑Charge app to onboard networks run by automakers, oil companies, and private operators, with launch expected in the coming weeks.
- The PM E‑DRIVE programme has set aside ₹2,000 crore for public charging from a ₹10,900 crore budget and targets 72,300 charging points across two‑wheelers, cars, and buses, though a March 23 Rajya Sabha reply showed no recorded spend yet on charging.
- India had 27,737 public charging stations installed by March 2026, of which 22,753 were operational, and officials say common standards like CCS2 for cars and LECCS for light EVs are key to fixing today’s brand‑locked, multi‑app charging experience.