4,557 EV public charging stations installed on highways and expressways: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) A total of 4,557 electric vehicle (EV) public charging stations (PCSs) have been installed across a length of 146,342 km on the state, National Highways, and Expressways in the country, the Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Uttar Pradesh leads with 507 public EV charging stations, followed by Karnataka at 489, Maharashtra at 459, Tamil Nadu at 456 and Rajasthan at 424, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

"As per information available with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a total of 4,557 EV Public Charging Stations (PCSs) have been installed on the state/National Highways/expressways in the country," he said.

The minister further stated that there is no scheme for providing incentives to the Charging Point Operators (CPOs).

Meanwhile, 4,625 EV charging stations are currently operational in tier 2 cities in the country (as on April 1, 2025).

The government recently said that with a financial outlay of Rs 2,000 crore, the PM E-Drive scheme will support the installation of approximately 72,000 EV public charging stations across the country. These stations will be strategically deployed along 50 National Highway corridors, within high-traffic destinations such as metro cities, toll plazas, railway stations, airports, fuel outlets, and state highways, the Ministry of Heavy Industries had said in a statement.

The PM E-DRIVE scheme was launched in October 2024 to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) through demand incentives and expand EV charging infrastructure nationwide. The Centre has allocated Rs 10,900 crore for subsidies to EVs under this scheme.

The Centre has also allocated Rs 873.50 crore towards the installation of 8,932 Electric Vehicle Public Charging Stations (EVPCS) by the three oil marketing companies (OMCs), namely IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, under the FAME-II Scheme.

Earlier this month, the government launched a groundbreaking scheme to provide financial incentives for electric trucks (e-trucks) under the PM E-DRIVE initiative, with the maximum incentive set at Rs 9.6 lakh per vehicle.

--IANS

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