The Current State of EV Charging in India [2026]: Public, Home, and Fleet Networks

India experienced a record-breaking year in 2025, with total EV registrations reaching 2.3 million units, up from 1.95 million in 2024. EVs now account for 8% of all new vehicle registrations in the country.  Public chargers rose from approximately 5,000 in 2022 to around 25,000–26,000 by early 2025, yet this still meant one charger per 235 EVs (far above global norms).  By late 2025, India counted about 39,500 chargers (8,414 fast chargers).  
 
The gap between EVs and charging points is widening as adoption soars, undermining consumer confidence.  In this article, we explore:  

• Public charging networks: deployment patterns, utilization  challenges, land and grid constraints, and the commercial viability of fast-charging sites 

• Residential charging: the role of home and community charging, RWA-level challenges, wiring upgrades, and uneven adoption of national guidelines 

• Fleet charging: depot and highway charging for buses, autos, and commercial fleets, and how policy and grid readiness shape scalability 

Public Charging (Open Network)

Public chargers have expanded rapidly, roughly a five-fold increase from FY22 to FY25, thanks to government push and private investment.  Growth, however, has been uneven, with leading states such as Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Delhi clustering most chargers, leaving others underserved.  
 
Private operators report very low utilization: on average, under 25% across all stations. Many fast-charger sites remain nearly empty outside peak hours, making business models unviable.  Observer Research Foundation’s (ORF) 2025 study highlights execution gaps: project delays, stalled approvals, and opaque grid interconnections plague new sites.  
 
For example, developers often face repeated permit delays from DISCOMs or local bodies and sometimes outright rejection of grid connection requests. Land acquisition is another challenge, with charging operators struggling to get long-term rights on highway waystations. Even with subsidies, high capital and grid-upgrade costs remain. ITDP India notes that “land identification” and “high power connection costs” (including transformer upgrades) deter many Charge Point Operators. 

Some state governments are attempting fixes. Delhi, for instance, offers concessional land rates and has a low EV-specific tariff to spur stations. Several states have created EV policy committees to smooth approvals.  Yet misperceptions linger; many assume chargers can be deployed quickly when, in reality, a new fast charger often requires a 300 kW+ service upgrade, a multi-month process involving utility studies, transformer replacement, and new cabling.  Without integrated planning from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and DISCOMs, operators remain uncertain about upgrade costs and timelines. 

Residential Charging: Home and Housing Complexes 

Home charging is the most convenient mode for India’s millions of two- and three-wheelers.  The 2024 Ministry of Power (MoP) guidelines allow homeowners to use existing meters or install a separate EV-dedicated meter and tariff. This means apartment owners can install a 3 kW–15 kW charger at home and pay regular residential rates, with distribution companies obliged to sanction any needed load increase. RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) are permitted to set up “community charging” in parking lots. However, the reality is messier. 

Many RWAs and electricians remain confused over wiring costs, sub-metering for visitors, or applicable safety standards. Reports note that despite central guidelines, several state governments have yet to adopt these guidelines.  

In practice, some housing societies flatly refuse EV chargers for safety or cost fears. Upgrading an old apartment’s electrical panel can cost ₹10,000–₹50,000 per slot, often shared among all residents, prompting objections from non-EV owners. Unsurprisingly, IEEFA found gated communities delaying or banning chargers “for fear of additional financial burden”. 

Although up to 80% of EV charging could occur at home (as in mature markets), India lags. Surveys show only about 55% of Indian EV owners currently have home chargers.  Cities are beginning to mandate wiring: Delhi’s EV policy (2020) requires 20% of parking in new buildings to be EV-ready, Maharashtra’s code mandates one charger per five parking spots in new projects, and Uttar Pradesh requires “at least one charger” for large residences. These rules help long-term, but enforcement is uneven. Many states lack EV-ready building codes, and existing complexes struggle to retrofit. The result: home charging, critical for EV transition, remains stuck in coordination limbo. Without clear RWA guidelines, financial incentives, or mandated infrastructure in old complexes, India cannot rely on private homes alone to bridge the gap. 

Fleet Charging: E-Buses, Autos and Delivery Fleets 

Fleets often manage charging “in-house” at depots or offices, sidestepping public network gaps. For example, e-buses rely on large DC chargers at bus depots; under PM E-DRIVE’s first phase, 10,900 e-buses were allocated to five cities (with operators bidding in late 2025). The 2024 guidelines allow bus depots to apply for high-power connections or open-access supply (with a 20% surcharge). In many cases, utilities expedite these, seeing the public interest. However, issues remain: some states lack clear policies for depot charging, and depots sometimes struggle to meet the required 240 kW minimum charger capacity for buses. 

Two- and three-wheeler fleets (delivery, auto rickshaws) mainly use swappable batteries or slow chargers.  Bottlenecks here are often operational, not infrastructural: e-rickshaw unions or fleets avoid costly parking fees, preferring back alleys or roadside vendors for cheap overnight charging. Few formal public chargers cater to autos, so drivers rely on informal arrangements. For trucks and ride-hailing cars, range anxiety is still a concern on intercity routes. Highway charging networks are in the pilot stage: NHAI and state agencies have invited bids to build wayside amenities (including charging) on major corridors, but the rollout of 25–50 km is only beginning. 

In sum, fleets drive electrification but also expose gaps. While they can deploy captive chargers (e.g., at depots or warehouses), large-scale fleet growth will eventually stress the common grid. Without robust public or semi-public charging infrastructure, fleet operators face higher costs (owning and maintaining hardware) and risk bottlenecks on longer routes.  Scaling fleet charging requires expansion both at depots and along highways to keep up with commercial EV adoption. 

Final Thoughts 

India’s EV adoption is moving faster than its charging infrastructure. While vehicle sales and policy intent are strong, execution challenges persist across public, residential, and fleet use cases. 

Public networks struggle with low utilization and grid constraints, home charging remains caught in coordination and cost disputes, and fleet charging, though often managed privately, will increasingly strain common infrastructure as electrification scales. Across all three, the issue is not demand but planning, approvals, and grid readiness. 

For India’s EV transition to sustain momentum, charging must be treated as essential infrastructure, planned, integrated with the grid, and supported by clear, enforceable standards. The success of the next phase will depend less on new incentives and more on whether charging can quietly and reliably keep up with the EVs already on the road.