Chennai: India witnessed a remarkable acceleration in the deployment of fast-charging infrastructure along its major national highways throughout 2025, driven by concerted efforts from the government and private enterprises. This expansion is a direct response to the country's rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) adoption, which has now firmly entered the mainstream automotive market.
Significant Growth in Public Charging Stations
According to exclusive data shared by the analytics platform ExpWithEVs with Mint, the number of publicly accessible fast chargers along India's key highway routes soared by an impressive 40% to 90% last year. This surge represents a critical step in alleviating range anxiety for EV owners undertaking long-distance travel.
"When tracking the spread of EV chargers across the country, we see that there are not many major gaps in the availability of chargers across the major highways," stated Priyans Murarka, founder of ExpWithEVs. "There could be some stretches in parts of the country where the availability is scarce, but the overall presence and density of chargers have improved substantially."
However, Murarka highlighted an ongoing operational challenge: "One of the primary concerns reported is keeping the chargers consistently online. Users may sometimes find them inoperational when they are most needed on these long highway stretches." Ensuring reliability remains a key focus for the industry.
Highway-Specific Charging Infrastructure Data
The data reveals which corridors are leading the electrification race:
- National Highway 48 (Delhi to Chennai): Topped the list with the highest number of public fast-charging stations, recording 652 stations in 2025—a robust 41% year-on-year increase.
- NH-44 (Srinagar to Kanyakumari): India's longest highway saw a dramatic 70% jump in charging stations, reaching a total of 538.
- NH-66 (Panvel to Kanyakumari): Ranked third with 240 stations, marking a 45% growth from the previous year.
- NH-16 (Kolkata to Chennai) and NH-65 (Pune to Machilipatnam): Followed closely with explosive growth rates of 92% and 46%, hosting 227 and 213 stations respectively.
The EV Sales Momentum Driving Infrastructure
This infrastructure boom is underpinned by solid market growth. India's total EV sales, encompassing cars, scooters, trucks, buses, and three-wheelers, reached 2.27 million units in 2025. Electric car sales alone skyrocketed by 77% year-on-year to 176,817 units, while battery-powered two-wheeler sales increased by 11% to 1.27 million units.
Major automakers are fueling this transition with aggressive plans. Companies like Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, and Hyundai Motor India Ltd have lined up an extensive pipeline of new battery-electric models. Furthermore, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd have taken a leadership role in infrastructure, jointly targeting the deployment of 100,000 charging points by 2030. Mahindra is also eyeing the installation of over 1,000 fast-charging stations by the end of 2027.
Building Corridors, Not Just Isolated Points
Industry leaders emphasize that the focus has shifted from installing standalone chargers to developing fully electrified corridors. "Highway electrification is no longer about isolated chargers but about creating complete corridors with realistic spacing, redundancy, and predictable availability. This is what allows EVs to function just like regular cars on highways," explained Akshit Bansal, Founder and CEO of Statiq.
Bansal cited the Delhi-Chandigarh corridor as a prime example of optimal charger density and availability. "Beyond Delhi-Chandigarh, we are seeing routes like Delhi-Jaipur and Jaipur-Udaipur emerge as India's premier EV tourism highways," he added.
Strategic Partnerships and User-Centric Locations
The expansion is being executed through strategic collaborations. Automakers are actively partnering with charge point operators and aggregators like ChargeZone and Statiq to deploy infrastructure nationwide. Public sector oil marketing companies—Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation—are also significant players in this sector.
A key trend is the integration of charging with hospitality. Restaurants and highway pit stops are becoming preferred destinations for users to power up their vehicles within 30 to 60 minutes on average.
"After driving for three to four hours, one naturally wants to take a break. If a charger is available at a restaurant on the highway, it perfectly aligns with the user's need to rest and recharge simultaneously," said Kartikey Hariyani, Founder and CEO of ChargeZone.
Hariyani noted that ChargeZone's network sees the most activity in the southern, western, and northern regions of India. "We started with the south due to major early adoption. Maharashtra in the west is a large highway state in our network. The north is also showing good pickup. In terms of regional ranking, it's south first, followed by the west and then the north."
The Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable EV Adoption
Industry executives stress that product launches must go hand-in-hand with ecosystem development for sustainable scaling. "EVs will scale sustainably only when product launches and ecosystem development move in parallel," asserted Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, in a December statement.
Echoing this sentiment, Maruti Suzuki, which is preparing to launch its first EV in India, the eVitara, is adopting a holistic ecosystem approach. "By integrating campaigns, bringing all charging apps under one umbrella, building fast-charger confidence among customers, and showcasing a strong product range... we address a lot of the prevailing consumer concerns," explained Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer of Marketing and Sales at Maruti Suzuki.
The rapid deployment of fast-chargers, capable of replenishing an EV's battery in 10 to 60 minutes compared to several hours for slow chargers, is a testament to India's commitment to its electric mobility transition. As the network matures from isolated points to reliable corridors, it paves the way for EVs to become a truly viable option for pan-India travel.
