The electric vehicle ecosystem in India has made a significant transition over recent years, moving from trials and policy incentives to establishing large-scale infrastructure by 2026. Charging stations, battery swap stations, depot electrification, and BESS have all become key public procurement themes across highways, cities, railways, ports, and public transportation; both industry platforms and government departments are currently tracking approximately 1,000–2,000 active EV charge tenders; over 150 battery swap tenders have been issued; and there are approximately 245 battery swap stations nationwide.
Charging infrastructure is the fastest-growing part of the industry. By early 2026, the public charging network in India had grown to approximately 27,000 to 30,000 charging stations because of state EV policies, central government electrification programs, and active participation by PSUs. Delhi has experienced the fastest growth of any market, as DISCOM-led deployment added approximately 3,241 charging and swapping locations in FY 2025–26 (BSES: ~1,600; Tata Power DDL: ~1,641). On top of this, the expanding role of utilities is part of an ongoing structural change. As an example, DISCOMs are acting more as charging operators, grid coordinators and providers of longer-term maintenance for large sections of infrastructure by helping to improve ease of access to power (via grid) to help reduce costs, increase development potential, and provide more financial certainty for major projects.
PSUs and OMCs are accelerating highway fast‑charging rollouts through large DC fast‑charger tenders. In Q4 FY2026 ~631 units of 60 kW DC chargers and 120 kW DC chargers were awarded to PSU/OMCs via tender. Servotech Renewable Power Systems has secured 423 of these chargers, or approximately 67% of awarded chargers. The total estimated value of these award contracts is approximately Rs. 50 crore–60 crore, with the planned deployment across forecourts and intercity routes over FY 2026–27. The procurements of the chargers clearly demonstrate that large scale, a nationwide ability to execute, an integrated solution consisting of hardware, software and installation, as well as O&M capabilities, are helping to provide significant advantages to manufacturers.
Under public-private partnership (PPP) and smart city models, municipal corporations have begun transitioning to comprehensive urban mobility systems. These changes are evident through new tenders such as Ludhiana's 50 units of charging stations in addition to 10 units for battery swapping (with a concession for 10 years), and Ahmedabad's combined system comprised of 52 locations throughout that city. These projects offer opportunities for the manufacturers of charging stations, engineering and construction firms, software development companies, payment technology vendors and Internet-of-Things (IoT) service companies.
Rail and ports represent the most significant emergence of EV nodes with high foot traffic. The Southern Railway has begun awarding contracts to swap batteries at various suburban stations throughout Chennai. At Jawaharlal Nehru Port, 50 heavy-duty e-trucks that swap batteries have been put into operation, and the Port Authority is working on building additional charging and swapping facilities that will allow approximately 90% of all heavy-duty trucks operating at the port to be electrified by the end of 2026. This progress provides many opportunities for fleet charging, heavy-duty swapping, and energy management in smart fleets.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) have become vital as part of the transportation sector's transition to electric vehicles (EVs). More than 200 GWh of energy storage contracts were awarded through May 2026. The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation (UPPCL) held a landmark auction for 375 megawatts (MW) of energy storage to support ultra-fast charging; contracts were awarded to three bidders with a levelized average tariff of approximately ₹6.45/kWh. BESS will provide a range of benefits: they will help to flatten out the peak load due to ultra-fast charger usage, enable the integration of renewables, assist in peak-shaving, and provide backup to charger networks. Therefore, BESS will be a priority for investments surrounding the deployment of charging hubs.
Another key driver is the electrification of public transport. Numerous large-scale tenders are being released by both central and state governments for electric buses and depot charging, making depot design, load management and charging for larger fleets much more important to procurement agencies. However, projects continue to have execution challenges and have changed the design of tenders from their original plans. For example, large-scale public-private partnership projects (e.g., Karnataka's effort to install 2,500 EV stations across the state) were challenged by land availability, operational uncertainty, and the length of time until the investments pay back.
To make public transport electrification tenders bankable and more attractive to the largest, financially capable bidders, public authorities are increasingly utilising Viability Gap Funding (VGF), hybrid life-cycle public-private partnerships (PPP), revenue-sharing agreements, and DISCOM/PSU anchor user models.
Policy support is growing the pipeline: Delhi's Draft EV Policy 2026–2030 includes approximately ₹3,954 crore for ultra-fast charging corridors, BESS integrated systems, smart meters, transformer upgrading, and electric public transport. It could act as a model for other states.
Over the next 12–24 months, the areas with the greatest growth potential will be related to ultra-fast charging (>240 kW), BESS charging hybrids, depot infrastructure for buses/fleets, logistics electrification, and swapping networks at railway stations. The best-positioned companies to obtain a large percentage of this multi-thousand-crore market are those that have a nationwide EPC implementation capability combined with manufacturing scale, integrated software platforms, financing, and long-term O&M capabilities.
