India to require 400k charging stations for 2 mn EVs by 2026: Report

India needs about 400,000 charging stations to meet the requirement for two million Electric Vehicles (EV) that could potentially ply on its roads by 2026, said a report on Saturday.

The Grant Thornton Bharat-Ficci report said for India to reach its vision of 100 per cent EVs by 2030, factors such as increasing government support, decreasing cost of technology, and distressing pollution levels, would be key to accelerate this transition.

As per EV industry body – Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles – there are 1,800 charging stations in India as of March 2021 for approximately 16,200 electric cars, including the fleet segment.

“Overall, the EV infrastructure is tightly coupled with the EV and charging station characteristics, battery technologies, and electricity markets,” the report said.

“More than half of the stakeholders, as part of a survey in the report, have also recommended involvement of discoms in Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) deployment and classification of EV charging infrastructure as corporate social responsibility.”

Besides, the survey suggested design simplifications, partnership during transition, and optimisation of urban mobility as effective cost reduction levers for bringing down EV costs in India.