India may require 13 lakh charging stations by 2030 to support aggressive EV uptake: Report

New Delhi: A report released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on ‘Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicle’ has said that a firm push by the governments at the Central and state levels for electric vehicles has increased consumer choice. Along with better awareness, there has been an exponential growth in EV uptake in 2022, resulting in a 3X increase over the previous year. Going by this trend, even in a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario of 40 percent year-on-year growth, about 106 million EVs will be sold every year by 2030. To achieve a ratio of 1:40 charging infra to EVs, India will need to install more than 400,000 chargers annually with a total of 1.32 million chargers till 2030.

The CII report done in collaboration with Edelman is the second in a series of CII reports on ‘Roadmap for Future Mobility 2030’.

'India needs robust charging infra for EV penetration'

Vipin Sondhi, Chairperson – CII National Committee on Future Mobility 2022-23 (last year) and former MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland and JCB said, “The Government of India has set the ball rolling on accelerated adoption of EVs, aiming to achieve sales penetration of 30 percent for private cars, 70 percent for commercial vehicles, and 80 percent for two and three-wheelers by 2030. The foundation for this will be laid by the creation of robust charging infrastructure.”

“This presents a huge opportunity for India and the Indian industry,” said Sondhi. He called for a conducive policy environment, at the Centre, and in the states to enable Indian startups, MSMEs, and large companies to rapidly roll out charging infrastructure across the country. 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.

Some of the key recommendations emanating from the report included:

1. Single-window mechanism to approve setting up of the public charging infrastructure along with timely electricity connections & reliable supply by DISCOMS to ensure a higher density of charging infrastructure and quality of service.

2. Rationalisation of demand charges by linking it to actual utilisation will also enable CPOs to ensure viability till the time demand picks up in the coming years.

3. Integrate charging networks into town planning, for both greenfield as well as brownfield development.

4. Creating an SPV for the deployment of charging infra networks in Tier 2, Tier 3 towns as well as in rural areas. Also, a good road network may help in building consumer confidence to adopt EVs.

5. The majority of components for EV charging stations, particularly Level 3 DC fast chargers are imported, including electronic components and semi-conductors. This amounted to more than USD 5,800 million in the previous year (Apr-Dec 2022). Government under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme may consider PLI-like incentives to promote manufacturing of components for EV charging station. This will not only reduce India’s dependency on imports but also tap the opportunity to become a global supply hub for EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment).

6. EV if not powered through 100% green source of energy will defeat the whole purpose of the mobility transition. Use of 100% renewables for charging stations should be made mandatory by promoting open access, DRE through the C&I sectors and net metering combined with local energy storage system and grid storage system.

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