According to a survey published by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India may require at least 13 lakh EV chargers by 2030 to sustain rapid EV adoption. EVs tripled in number in 2022 compared to the previous year, experiencing exponential growth. According to the estimate, there will be over 1.6 crore EV sales annually in 2030 under a “business as usual” scenario with a growth rate of about 40% year over year.
India needs to deploy 1.32 million EV chargers by 2030: All You Need to Know
India would need to install more than 4 lakh EV chargers per year with a total of 13.20 lakh EV chargers nationwide by 2030 to meet this expanding demand and to attain a 1:40 ratio of charging infrastructure to EVs, the paper states.
In India, the infrastructure for charging is still in its infancy. India had about 5,300 public EV charging points as of the start of 2023. In India, where there are over 22 lakh EVs on the road, there are roughly 1 to 400 public EV chargers. This falls well short of other nations, including China and the United States, where EV adoption has been higher. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global EV Outlook 2022, China has a car-to-public EV charger ratio of 7, whereas the United States has a ratio of 20.
According to the report, creating a public charging infrastructure is essential to raising consumer confidence in the switch to EVs. By 2030, the Indian government hopes to reach a sales penetration of 30% for individual cars, 70% for commercial vehicles, and 80% for two- and three-wheelers. The development of a reliable charging infrastructure would lay the groundwork for this, according to Vipin Sondhi, chair of the CII National Committee on Future Mobility 2022–2023 and a former MD and CEO of Ashok Leyland and JCB India.
Sondhi calls for a supportive policy environment at the federal and state levels to enable Indian startups, MSMEs, and large corporations to quickly roll out charging infrastructure across the nation. “The sheer extent of charging infrastructure that will need to be set up in India provides the economies of scale needed to turn the country into a global manufacturing hub for charging stations, in turn leading to job creation and exports,” Sondhi says.
A strong, secure, and dependable electric vehicle infrastructure requires a lot of investment. It has substantial up-front expenses, such as land and electrical connections, as well as continuous maintenance costs.
“The Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) is heavily dependent on imports for its parts. Given the increasing trajectory for EVs and accompanying charging needs, the sector has the potential to become a significant employer. According to the report, India has the chance to take the lead in becoming a worldwide hub for EVSE and its supply chain because of the anticipated demand from both domestic and international markets in the upcoming decade.
Richer nations with a disproportionate number of 4W automobiles and residents who have access to parking spaces may not need as many public charging stations since private EV chargers will make up the difference. The reliance on public charging infrastructure is anticipated to be greater in nations where 2W and 3W predominate and where urban population density is high with limited access to dedicated parking, according to the paper.
Over the past few years, electric vehicle sales in India have grown exponentially, exceeding even the most optimistic sales projections. Nearly 5% of all auto sales in India, across all categories, are electric vehicles. While more options are leading to higher sales of electric vehicle personal 4W vehicles, the 2W category still commands the majority of EV sales.
