The Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has issued operational guidelines for the deployment of electric vehicle public charging stations (EV PCS) under the PM E-DRIVE Scheme.
According to the guidelines, the government premises, such as offices, hospitals, educational institutions, and central public sector enterprises, will receive 100 per cent subsidy on upstream infrastructure and charging equipment, provided the facilities offer free public access. In other public locations, including metro stations, bus depots, municipal parking lots, toll plazas, and state transport hubs, the subsidy will cover up to 80 per cent of infrastructure and 70 per cent of equipment cost. Battery swapping and charging stations are also eligible for 80 per cent support. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has been designated as the project implementation agency, while Industrial Finance Corporation Limited will serve as the project management agency. BHEL will also develop a national unified hub and app to enable discovery, booking, and payment for EV chargers. The scheme envisages support of Rs 20 billion for setting up adequate public charging infrastructure for various categories of vehicles to instil confidence amongst EV users.