India approves 4,874 PM E‑Drive chargers

India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries said on May 12 it had approved proposals worth ₹503.86 crore to install 4,874 public electric-vehicle chargers under the PM E-DRIVE scheme. The announcement came at a national conference in Bengaluru led by Heavy Industries Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, where the ministry said the approvals cover projects across states and central public-sector enterprises. (pib.gov.in) Karnataka alone received approval for 1,243 chargers with an outlay of ₹123.26 crore, Kumaraswamy said. (pib.gov.in) The approvals add detail to India’s wider charging push under PM E-DRIVE, a scheme notified on Sept. 29, 2024, to support EV adoption and manufacturing. The Ministry of Heavy Industries has said ₹2,000 crore was set aside under the program for public charging infrastructure, while the overall scheme carried an outlay of ₹10,900 crore over two years. ### Which agencies and states were named in the latest approvals? The May 12 ministry release named HPCL, IOCL and BPCL among the approved central public-sector participants. (pib.gov.in) It also listed Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu among the states covered by the sanctioned proposals. Dr. Hanif Qureshi, additional secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries, said the program would support chargers for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cars, buses and trucks. (pib.gov.in) The ministry said the Bengaluru conference brought together representatives from states and union territories, charge-point operators, automakers, oil marketing companies and other stakeholders. ### How large is PM E-DRIVE beyond this one approval? The Ministry of Heavy Industries said on April 1, 2025 that PM E-DRIVE had a total outlay of ₹10,900 crore over the period from April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2026. (pib.gov.in) That reply to parliament also said ₹2,000 crore had been allocated for public charging infrastructure, including support tied to e-buses and EVs on a pan-India basis. The PM E-DRIVE portal says the scheme was launched with cabinet approval and is being implemented by the ministry. The portal also says the program covers electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, ambulances, trucks, buses, charging infrastructure and testing-agency upgrades. (pib.gov.in) ### How does this fit with India’s existing charging network? The Ministry of Heavy Industries said, citing information from the Ministry of Power, that India had 25,202 EV charging stations as of Dec. 17, 2024. The same parliamentary reply said the power ministry issued updated guidelines for installation and operation of EV charging infrastructure on Sept. 17, 2024, and that setting up a charging station had been designated a de-licensed activity. (pib.gov.in) Those figures mean the newly approved 4,874 chargers would add to a charging base that the government had already been tracking nationwide. (pmedrive.heavyindustries.gov.in) The ministry did not give a completion date for the newly approved chargers in the May 12 release. ### What did the government say about the next implementation step? A May 2025 ministry release said Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, or BHEL, was being considered as the nodal agency for demand aggregation and for development of a unified digital platform for EV users. (pib.gov.in) That release said the app would include charger availability, slot booking, payments and deployment dashboards under PM E-DRIVE. The PM E-DRIVE portal says the scheme remains active for several vehicle categories, and the ministry said at the Bengaluru conference that coordination with states, BHEL, charge-point operators and industry groups would be needed for rollout. (pib.gov.in) The next public markers are likely to come through further ministry announcements and updates on the PM E-DRIVE portal. (pib.gov.in)