PM E-Drive Powers Up! BHEL Set to Lead ₹2,000 Cr EV Charging Rollout

Image Source: Humans of EV

The government is set to appoint Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) as nodal agency to deploy 72,000 public EV charging points in India under the PM EDrive scheme, major boost to clean mobility. The scheme with budget outlay of ₹2,000 crore will create an EVready ecosystem in India by FY26.

Key Highlights:

BHEL's role: BHEL will handle demand aggregation, collaborate with states and ministries, and create an EV super app for realtime slot booking, payment, and charger status.
Strategic Deployment: Charging stations will be deployed at 50 national highway corridors and highdensity locations like metro cities, toll plazas, airports, railway stations, and fuel stations.
Digital Backbone: The app proposed will also consist of deployment dashboards to assist in monitoring progress and facilitate transparency in implementation.
Joint Drive: The proposal was discussed in an interministerial meeting, which was presided over by Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, and was attended by the Ministries of Road Transport, Heavy Industries, and Petroleum.
Present Status: As of April 2025, India has 26,367 public EV charging stations. The new plan aims to nearly triple that number in two years.

The move places BHEL at the forefront of India's electric vehicle infrastructure expansion, with the government making a bet on public sector coordination and digital integration in driving adoption.

Sources: Autocar Professional, Mint, Legality Simplified