The Ministry of Heavy Industries organised a national conference in Bengaluru on 12 May 2026 to discuss enabling a nationwide electric vehicle charging infrastructure under the PM E-DRIVE scheme. The Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, H.D. Kumaraswamy, said the government is committed to creating a modern and reliable charging ecosystem to support the country's clean mobility transition and to make electric mobility affordable and widely available. He emphasised that strengthening charging infrastructure is essential to accelerate large scale adoption.

The minister announced approval for Karnataka proposals for 1,243 EV chargers with an outlay of Rs1,232.6 million (mn) and said proposals with a total financial outlay of Rs5,038.6 million (mn) have been approved to cover installation of 4,874 chargers across states and central public sector enterprises. The approved proposals include central public sector enterprises such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and states including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The ministry said coordinated efforts between the centre, states, charge point operators and industry stakeholders will be instrumental in creating an efficient charging ecosystem.

Under the PM E-DRIVE scheme the government has approved a total outlay of Rs109 bn to promote electric mobility across vehicle segments. The scheme proposes support for around two point five million (mn) electric two wheelers and around zero point three two million (mn) electric three wheelers including e-rickshaws and L5 category vehicles, and envisages support of Rs43.91 bn for deployment of over 14,028 electric buses. Out of the total outlay Rs36.79 bn has been earmarked for demand incentives for emerging EV categories while Rs20 bn is allocated for development of public charging infrastructure and Rs7.8 bn for modernisation of vehicle testing agencies. The ministry also cited other schemes including production linked incentive auto at Rs259.38 bn, PLI ACC at Rs181 bn and a payment security mechanism at Rs34.35 bn.

Officials urged common standards and faster deployment. Ministry reaffirmed support for net zero.