India sanctioned 6,562 public EV chargers, and installed none

Key takeaways

• 6,562 public EV chargers have been sanctioned under PM E-DRIVE since 2024, and none had been installed as of 4 August 2026 (govt data)

• ₹2,000 crore is earmarked under PM E-DRIVE for public charging stations across India (govt data)

• PM E-DRIVE has backed 26.54 lakh EV sales as of 22 July 2026, against an overall target of 28.3 lakh (govt data)

• ₹2,322 crore of the scheme’s ₹10,900 crore outlay has been released and utilised (govt data)

• FAME-II installed 9,583 public charging stations as of 1 July 2026, and that older network is the one EV drivers actually use (govt data)

• PM E-DRIVE gives no purchase subsidy to private electric cars; its vehicle incentives cover two- and three-wheelers, buses, trucks and ambulances (govt data)

• Public fast charging is still thin, so whether you can charge at home or in your society remains the deciding factor for most buyers (ThatsmyEV view)

The Ministry of Heavy Industries told the Lok Sabha on 4 August 2026 that 6,562 public EV chargers have been sanctioned under the PM E-DRIVE scheme since 2024, and that not one of them has been installed. The scheme is nearly two years old. In the same reply, the government said PM E-DRIVE has already backed 26.54 lakh EV sales, so the demand side is moving far faster than the charging side that is meant to support it.

That gap is the whole story, and it is the question our India’s EV charging coverage keeps returning to: not how many chargers are announced, but how many you can actually plug into on the road you drive.

What the government has confirmed

Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy said in a written reply to a starred question that 6,562 chargers have been sanctioned under PM E-DRIVE, including 1,571 for Karnataka, and that none had been installed to date. The government has earmarked ₹2,000 crore within the scheme for public charging, and approved ₹153.10 crore of it for Karnataka’s 1,571 chargers. So the sanctions and the money are in place; the installations are not.

The ministry contrasted this with the older FAME-II scheme, which it said had installed 9,583 public charging stations across India as of 1 July 2026. That is the installed network EV drivers use. FAME-II also supported 16.71 lakh EV sales and 5,297 electric buses before it wound down as a purchase scheme.

Figures from the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ written reply to the Lok Sabha, 4 August 2026. All are government-stated.

The gap between EVs sold and chargers built

The scheme has helped put 26.54 lakh EVs on Indian roads and, by its own account, has not yet added a single public charger to serve them. Most of that vehicle support went to two-wheelers, at 23.79 lakh, which is why the charging shortfall lands hardest on car and highway use rather than on short urban trips. The direction of travel is clear enough in our EV sales data: the cars are selling, and the public plug points are not keeping pace.

For a car buyer there is a second detail that matters: PM E-DRIVE does not subsidise private electric cars at all. Its cash incentives go to two- and three-wheelers, buses, trucks and ambulances. The car-relevant parts of the scheme are the charging money, which has not yet built anything, and the ₹780 crore going to upgrade the ARAI, ICAT, NATRAX and GARC testing agencies.

The charger numbers measure different things. Charging counts in India do not line up cleanly, so treat any single national total with care. The 6,562 figure is PM E-DRIVE sanctions, not installations. The 9,583 figure is FAME-II stations actually installed by 1 July 2026. Other public and private chargers exist outside both schemes and are counted separately. When a headline gives one big number for India’s chargers, check whether it is counting sanctions or installations, stations or connectors, and under which scheme.

What this means if you are buying an electric car in 2026

The practical takeaway is simple. The public network you will use in 2026 is the existing FAME-II one plus private operators, not the PM E-DRIVE chargers, which are still on paper. So the single biggest factor in whether an EV suits you is where you park at night. If you can fit a home or society charge point, the installation delay barely touches your daily driving. If you cannot, public charging becomes the deciding constraint, and it is still thin outside the big cities and main highways.

If that points you toward a first EV, our list of affordable electric cars under 20 lakh is the sensible place to start, and you can see every electric car on sale in India alongside it. If home charging itself is the sticking point, our explainer on how EV charging works covers what a 3.3kW or 7.2kW home point actually needs.

[EDITORIAL HOOK, Rahul to fill: drop in the single most-asked charging question on the ThatsmyEV WhatsApp expert line in the latest consultations, with the real count, for example apartment and housing-society charging permissions. Leave as a labelled placeholder until the number is confirmed; do not publish an invented figure.]

Not sure your building can support a home charger? Get a free expert callback

What we still don’t know

• When installation of the 6,562 sanctioned PM E-DRIVE chargers will begin. The government gave no timeline.

• The state-wise and district-wise split of those chargers. The ministry said PM E-DRIVE sets no such targets.

• The uptime of the installed FAME-II network. Installation counts are published; working-charger counts are not.

• When the ₹2,000 crore charging tenders convert into live sites a driver can actually use.

The ThatsmyEV Take

Here is what the government is really doing. The money and the sanctions are real: ₹2,000 crore is earmarked, 6,562 chargers are approved, and the paperwork for states like Karnataka is done. What is missing is asphalt. Nearly two years in, the announcement is running well ahead of the installation, and that distance is the part that should shape a buying decision.

What will decide whether PM E-DRIVE works is not how many chargers get sanctioned, it is how many get built and then kept working. India has been good at sanctioning and patchy at uptime, and a charger that exists only on a spreadsheet does nothing for a driver sitting at 8 percent battery. Until the PM E-DRIVE sites are live and reliable, the load stays on the older FAME-II network and on private operators.

So here is what we would tell a buyer on 25 August 2026. If you can charge where you park, a Tata Nexon EV or a Tata Punch EV makes sense, with no reason to wait for a public network that is still uninstalled. If you depend entirely on public charging, weight your shortlist toward the longest certified range you can afford, and check that your two most-used routes have working chargers before you sign. Do not buy on the promise of chargers that have been approved but not built.

Frequently asked questions

How many EV chargers has PM E-DRIVE installed in India in 2026?

None. The Ministry of Heavy Industries told the Lok Sabha on 4 August 2026 that 6,562 public EV chargers have been sanctioned under PM E-DRIVE since 2024, but that none had been installed yet. The scheme has earmarked ₹2,000 crore for public charging, so the money is committed even though the chargers are not on the ground.

What is the PM E-DRIVE scheme for electric vehicles?

PM E-DRIVE is India’s main EV support scheme, running from April 2024 to March 2028 with a ₹10,900 crore outlay, according to the Ministry of Heavy Industries. It funds purchase incentives for two- and three-wheelers, buses, trucks and ambulances, ₹2,000 crore for public charging, and testing upgrades. It does not subsidise private electric cars.

Does PM E-DRIVE give a subsidy for buying an electric car?

No. PM E-DRIVE does not offer a purchase subsidy for private electric cars, the Ministry of Heavy Industries has confirmed. Its vehicle incentives cover electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses, trucks and ambulances. Electric cars in India still attract the concessional 5 percent GST rate, but there is no PM E-DRIVE cash incentive on a private four-wheeler.

How many public EV charging stations does India have in 2026?

FAME-II had installed 9,583 public EV charging stations across India as of 1 July 2026, the Ministry of Heavy Industries told Parliament. That is the network most EV drivers actually use, because the newer PM E-DRIVE chargers are sanctioned but not yet installed. Other public and private chargers exist outside these schemes and are counted separately.

How many EVs has PM E-DRIVE supported in India?

PM E-DRIVE has backed 26.54 lakh EV sales as of 22 July 2026, against an overall target of 28.3 lakh, according to the Ministry of Heavy Industries. Most of that support went to electric two-wheelers, at 23.79 lakh. Maharashtra recorded the highest count at 4.28 lakh, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka.

Why are the PM E-DRIVE EV chargers not installed yet?

The government has not given a reason or a timeline. In its 4 August 2026 reply to the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Heavy Industries confirmed 6,562 chargers were sanctioned and none installed, but did not explain the delay or say when deployment would begin. PM E-DRIVE sets no state-wise or annual charging targets, which makes the schedule harder to track.

How much money has India spent under PM E-DRIVE?

₹2,322 crore of the ₹10,900 crore PM E-DRIVE outlay had been released and fully utilised as of 22 July 2026, the Ministry of Heavy Industries told the Lok Sabha. The scheme runs to March 2028. A separate ₹2,000 crore is earmarked within it for public charging, and ₹780 crore for upgrading four vehicle testing agencies.

Is FAME-II still active for EV charging in India?

FAME-II has ended as a purchase scheme, but its charging network remains in use. The Ministry of Heavy Industries said FAME-II had installed 9,583 public charging stations by 1 July 2026 and supported 16.71 lakh EV sales plus 5,297 electric buses. PM E-DRIVE has replaced it as the active scheme, though PM E-DRIVE’s own chargers are not yet installed.

Where can I charge my electric car in India right now?

Most EV owners in India rely on home or society charging first, then the existing FAME-II public network of 9,583 stations and private charging operators. Public fast charging remains thin outside major cities and highways. If you can fit a home or apartment charge point, the public-charging gap barely affects your daily driving.

When will the 6,562 PM E-DRIVE chargers be installed?

There is no announced date. The Ministry of Heavy Industries confirmed on 4 August 2026 that all 6,562 sanctioned chargers were still uninstalled and gave no deployment timeline. Karnataka has ₹153.10 crore approved for 1,571 of them. Until installation begins, treat the PM E-DRIVE network as a plan rather than a network you can drive to.

Charging is the question we get asked most. Ask a ThatsmyEV expert on WhatsApp

Sources

Sources: Ministry of Heavy Industries, written reply by Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy to a starred question in the Lok Sabha, 4 August 2026, covering PM E-DRIVE charger sanctions, spending, EV support and FAME-II charging installations. PM E-DRIVE scheme notification and guidelines, Ministry of Heavy Industries. Figures accessed 25 August 2026. Still open: the installation timeline for the 6,562 sanctioned chargers, which the government did not provide.