EV charging business may need up to ₹1.05 lakh cr investment by 2032: Report

The electric vehicle (EV) charging station business may need an investment of up to ₹1.05 lakh crore by 2032 if the country needs 2.30 lakh such facilities during this period, as per a report. This kind of investment is required in order to cater to the growing demand for EVs, which is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39 per cent, which is result in the need for power, as per credit ratings agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

As per the report, the commercial EV charging stations are expected to be a major contributing factor in the penetration of these vehicles. It also mentions that the EV penetration for the overall automobile industry would reach 40 per cent by FY32 from about 4 per cent this fiscal.

The report highlights a few of the government's initiatives that could lead to secular growth in the demand for EVs. These schemes include The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for advanced chemistry cells, as well the focus on expanding the footprint of the electric charging infrastructure along with sustained increase in the petrol and diesel prices.

It is estimated that the country could require around 63,000 charging stations and cumulative investments of ₹269 billion ( ₹26,900 crore) for setting up the charging stations over the next five years.

In line with the growth of EV sales, in the next decade, the country could need 0.23 million charging stations, entailing a total investment of ₹1.05 trillion by FY32. In order to get an estimate of the number of charging stations that need to be set up and the investment required, Ind-Ra has assessed the total power requirement, using its internal estimates of the EV sales for next 10 years.