TL;DR
India's rapidly expanding EV charging network is struggling with over half of its public chargers being non-operational and low utilization rates, hindering widespread EV adoption despite sales growth.
While India has seen a rapid expansion in its electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, a significant challenge remains in the operational efficiency of these stations. According to a report, despite the presence of over 30,000 public chargers by August 2025, more than half of them, approximately 15,550, are non-operational. This considerable gap between installed capacity and actual functionality poses a major hurdle for EV adoption in the country.
The utilization rate of the operational chargers is also notably low, remaining below 10%. This indicates a disconnect between the growth in EV sales and the reliable availability of charging points. While urban areas benefit from denser but often fragmented coverage, requiring multiple apps for access, highway charging has improved in terms of density (91% of national highways having a fast charger every 50km by mid-2025), but reliability continues to be an issue.
This situation contrasts sharply with global EV leaders like China, which boasts 200 chargers per 1,000 EVs and 45% fast chargers, maintaining a robust and highly utilized network. India's journey towards widespread EV adoption, which has seen a surge from 0.01% to 7.31% of new vehicle registrations in a decade, is critically dependent on addressing these infrastructure reliability and operational challenges to meet growing consumer demand.