ICRA in its latest research note said India is likely to see around 48,000 additional electric vehicle chargers at an investment of around ₹14,000 crore over the next 3-4 years amidst healthy EV penetration in the country, reported by PTI.
With the electric vehicle penetration expected to increase in the two and three-wheeler as well as bus segments, ICRA in its report states that the expansion of charging infrastructure which is currently at a nascent stage will play a critical role.
The Moody's-backed ICRA in its latest note highlighted that the penetration of electric two-wheelers is expected to be at about 13-15% of the new vehicle sales by FY25, while electric three-wheeler and e-bus segment penetrations are expected at more than 30% and 8-10%.
Shamsher Dewan, Vice President, and Group Head, ICRA said, "India remains a laggard in EV charging infrastructure penetration. However, like most global counterparts, the policy push has been strong in India as well to increase the number of EV charging stations. To capitalise on the potential opportunity in the space, several PSUs and private players have also announced plans to foray into charging infrastructure," cited by PTI.
Dewan further added that battery swapping is an alternative solution instead to developing EV charging infrastructure, especially for commercial applications. This is also currently in a nascent stage in India.
To increase the EV charging network, the Indian government has allocated ₹1,300 crore in the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme.
According to ICRA, overall, these policies aim to proactively promote more EV charging stations, with a sizeable part of the population expected to have charge infra access in the next 3-5 years.
Further, ICRA stated in the report, that several Public Sector Units (PSUs) and private players have announced plans to foray into charging infrastructure to capitalise on the potential opportunity in the space. That said, the rating agency expects an addition of around 48,000 chargers over the next 3-4 years at an investment of ₹14,000 crore.
In ICRA's opinion, it will take about four years for an EV charging station to reach break-even based on current expectations of EV penetration and commensurate asset utilisation (30% in four years), without accounting for any subsidy.
Further, ICRA added that the localisation is only 10-15% currently with the hardware components largely imported from China and Taiwan. Thereby, the rating firm stated that increase in localisation can save cost. (With inputs from Agency).
