India’s PM E-DRIVE programme, having supported over 26.5 lakh EV sales, is extended until March 2028 with a boosted funding of ₹11,900 crore to bolster EV adoption, charging networks, and domestic manufacturing.
India’s PM E-DRIVE programme has supported 26.59 lakh electric vehicle sales as of June 2026 and will now run until 31 March 2028, after the Ministry of Heavy Industries raised the scheme’s total outlay to ₹11,900 crore. The ministry said the extension is intended to keep pushing EV adoption, expand charging networks and reinforce domestic manufacturing, as the policy becomes a larger pillar of India’s clean-transport push.
The scheme was first notified in September 2024 with a two-year budget of ₹10,900 crore and took effect on 1 October 2024. Reuters has not independently verified the ministry’s figures, but the government said the extra time is needed because electric trucks remain at an early stage, electric buses involve a staggered grant process, and testing agencies require longer lead times to buy and commission equipment. Heavy Industries Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy had previously said these segments faced specific operational hurdles, according to the ministry’s earlier explanation of the extension.
Support for electric two-wheelers has also been adjusted. Business Standard reported in August that the segment’s incentive was cut to ₹2,500 per kilowatt-hour, with a cap of ₹5,000 per vehicle for models priced up to ₹1.5 lakh ex-factory, while the allocation for the category was increased by ₹1,000 crore to ₹2,767 crore. The broader goal for electric two-wheelers was also lifted, and Mint reported in March that the ministry had already extended subsidies for the segment to July 2026 before later restoring and prolonging them further to 31 March 2028.
The government has set aside ₹4,391 crore for 14,028 electric buses, with 14,000 already allocated by August 2026, including 13,800 across Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Surat, according to ministry data cited in the report. It has also earmarked ₹2,000 crore for charging infrastructure and ₹780 crore for testing facilities. The ministry said it has approved ₹851 crore for 8,147 chargers through oil marketing companies and state governments, while the plan approved by the Cabinet envisions about 72,300 fast chargers in all. It added that India’s EV adoption rate rose from 0.08% in 2015-16 to 8.26% in 2025-26, with annual sales climbing from about 50,000 vehicles in 2016 to 2.3 million in 2025.
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