Chandigarh tops EV infrastructure Index amid 1 pc increase in fleet share

New Delhi, Nov 19 (LatestNewsX) Chandigarh retained first place among Indian cities in terms of EV infrastructure, with also a 1 per cent increase in fleet share and continued policy support for four‑wheeler EVs and charger installation, a report said on Wednesday.

Mapping and location data company HERE Technologies and global automotive research firm SBD Automotive jointly released an EV index in which Karnataka rose to second from fourth place on the strength of its charger‑per‑BEV score despite a slight decline in charger availability.

Goa moved to third place, leading the country in BEV fleet share while Delhi continues to lead in charger density, with an estimate of one public charger for every 9 km of road.

India added 6,800 new public charge points between 2024 and 2025, but average charger power remained flat at 33 kW, and BEV-to-charger ratio increased from 12:1 in 2024 to 20:1 in 2025, suggesting that BEV adoption is accelerating faster than public charging deployment.

While this trend of increasing BEVs per charger is expected in maturing markets, the rate of change is far too rapid for the current state of the Indian BEV market, the report said, stressing the need for continued investment in infrastructure.

Around 49 per cent of Indian survey respondents expect over half of all vehicles sold in 2030 to be electric, and 73 per cent of surveyed EV owners have experienced a failed charging attempt.

Average age of EV owners in India is 35 years, compared to 46 in the US and 46 on average in the EU, the report noted.

Perception of availability of charging infrastructure is the top barrier to adoption, cited by 47 per cent of Indian respondents.

Government runs multiple schemes to support EV adoption such as PM E‑DRIVE, focusing on two‑ and three‑wheelers and commercial EVs while four‑wheelers continue to benefit from sales tax deductions and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) support for domestic manufacturing.

aar/pk