The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has rolled out operational guidelines under the ₹10,900 crore PM E-DRIVE scheme, allocating Rs 2,000 crore for subsidies to set up public charging stations for electric vehicles across cities and highways.
The scheme offers subsidies of up to 100 per cent, depending on the location and category of the charging station.
Government offices, hospitals, educational institutions, and central public sector enterprises will receive 100 per cent subsidy for both upstream infrastructure and charging equipment, provided the chargers remain open to the public free of cost.
Subsidy Structure for Other Locations
State transport bus stations, metro stations, municipal parking lots, public sector ports, and toll plazas operated by NHAI or state authorities will receive 80 per cent subsidy on infrastructure and 70 per cent on charging equipment.
Airports, railway stations, fuel retail outlets run by state-owned companies such as Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum, as well as metro stations and bus depots, will also qualify for 80 per cent subsidy on infrastructure and 70 per cent on equipment.
Battery swapping and charging stations will receive an 80 per cent subsidy.
The scheme prioritises urban centres with populations above one million, smart cities, satellite towns connected to major metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, along with state capitals.
High-density national and state highways, railway stations, airports, and fuel retail outlets have also been earmarked for infrastructure support.
The government has appointed Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) as the Project Implementation Agency and IFCI as the Project Management Agency.
BHEL will also develop a National Unified Hub and mobile app to integrate EV chargers, enabling discovery, real-time updates, slot booking, and payments.
Authorities will disburse the subsidy in two stages—70 per cent at the procurement stage and the remaining 30 per cent after commissioning and integration with the Unified Hub.
The guidelines set the charging standards at up to 12 kW for two- and three-wheelers and between 50 kW and 500 kW for fast chargers for cars, buses, and trucks.
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