The volume of electricity consumed by public charging stations (PCSs) for electric vehicles (EVs) across the country rose by almost 85 per cent Y-o-Y to 590.06 million units (MU) during the first three quarters in the current financial year.

As per the latest data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), PCSs in Delhi consumed the highest volume of power followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh.

The higher electricity consumption by PCSs is being attributed to the rise in the number of EVs being sold, particularly two and three-wheelers that are increasingly being used in the transportation and logistics services for last mile delivery, particularly by e-commerce and quick commerce firms.

Delhi’s electricity consumption rose by 83.27 per cent Y-o-Y to 258.83 MU during the April-December period in FY25. Power consumed by charging stations in Delhi accounted for 43.87 per cent of the cumulative electricity consumed by PCSs in the country.

Consumption rise
Maharashtra, which accounted for more than one-fourth of the power consumed by PCSs in the country, witnessed its consumption rise by 65.38 per cent Y-o-Y to 149.67 MU.

Power consumption by PCSs in Haryana rose by 75.53 per cent Y-o-Y to 17.53 MU. The north Indian State accounted for almost 3 per cent of the power consumed by PCSs in the country. On the other hand, PCSs in Andhra Pradesh consumed a little over 17 MU of electricity, an annual growth of 89.86 per cent.

India has around 26,367 EV PCSs deployed across the country as of March 2025. Karnataka has the largest number of PCSs at 5,879, followed by Maharashtra (3,842), Uttar Pradesh (2,113), Delhi (1,951), and Tamil Nadu (1,495).

According to FICCI’s EV Public Charging Infrastructure Roadmap 2030, the current financial viability for PCSs remains low at less than 2 per cent utilisation rate. To achieve profitability and scalability, the utilisation rate should be around 8-10 per cent by 2030.

It also highlights key challenges such as high infrastructure costs and low utilisation rates, lack of uninterrupted power supply and standardised protocols to enable interoperability.

Citing an example, the report pointed out that the current cost structure of electricity tariffs with fixed charges regardless of energy consumption combined with low utilisation at PCSs is making it challenging to achieve break even. States such as UP, Delhi and Gujarat have no/ low fixed tariffs but there are other States where fixed tariffs are high, thereby challenging the viability.