Jogging on a treadmill: The tale of India's charging infra

The progress of India's charging infrastructure is akin to jogging on a treadmill.

- S DINAKAR

No matter how long you run, the distance appears only on the screen: You are still on the belt. For Indian companies setting up public charging stations (PCSes), the narrative is similar - the charging points multiply, but the needle on utilisation and profits moves little.

It has been over two decades since Reva launched India's first commercial electric vehicle (EV). But India still has one of the fewest PCSes among major economies. At the same time, it is one of the fastest-growing EV markets. That begs the question, why are financiers hesitant and investors circumspect? PCSes are bleeding there is much better earnings visibility for a small petrol pump for the same investment that goes into a PCSes, interviews with several industry officials show.

"Given the relatively high capital cost of close to ₹30 lakh per PCSes and relatively high operating costs, utilisation becomes critical," said Vinutaa S, sector head at ratings agency ICRA. Utilisation is low at around 1015 per cent, she said. Industry sources peg it as low as 5 per cent, with customers complaining of several nonworking chargers.

"If you spend 250 lakh on a small petrol pump, there's much more visibility to breakeven than you get from setting up a couple of PCS of 60Kw each," said Ashish Deswal, founder, EarthtronEV. Moreover, one can fill 20 cars for the time it takes to charge a Nexon. But Deswal is still betting on the future of electrification.

Earthtron has 250 charging ons serving fleets and NEW ANA PCSes, is targeting 1,000 facilities by December 2024. But Deswal is counting on committed fleet operators to drive earnings, rather than wait for walk-ins.