EV Charger

Public EV Charging in India: Are Fast Chargers the New Norm?

India’s public EV charging landscape is changing at freeway speed. In 2025, policy nudges, highway electrification, and oil-marketing company (OMC) rollouts are pushing DC fast charging from “nice to have” to “expected.” Yet, AC charging still anchors workplaces, homes, and destination sites. So, is fast charging the new norm? The short answer is, it’s quickly becoming the norm for public ev charging, while AC remains foundational for private and long-dwell use cases.

What’s Driving India’s Fast-Charging Surge?

The Indian EV charging ecosystem is undergoing rapid transformation, fueled by strong policy support and strategic investments. The central government has earmarked $230 million to accelerate the rollout of fast-charging stations, providing a crucial push to both automakers and charge-point operators. This wave of incentives has created fertile ground for network expansion, especially as the focus shifts from small-scale pilots to nationwide infrastructure capable of supporting mass adoption.

At the same time, network effects are kicking in as state-owned oil marketing companies (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL) and leading auto OEMs collaborate to build one of the country’s largest public charging networks. By strategically deploying rapid chargers at existing fuel stations and along highways, they’re creating convenient touchpoints for drivers. Meanwhile, the rise in EV adoption beyond two-wheelers, particularly four-wheelers and commercial fleets, has intensified the need for faster charging solutions. Fleet uptime, intercity travel, and ride-hailing all demand higher power levels, typically 60–120 kW or more, making DC fast-charging sites the natural choice for public use.

The Public Charging Base in 2025: Diving into Numbers

As of April 2025, India stands at over 17,800 public ev charging stations, according to data from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). Growth is particularly strong along national highways and in leading EV states, where demand for reliable, high-speed charging is accelerating.
Automakers are playing a pivotal role in this expansion. Tata Motors has announced plans to set up 30,000 public charging points and 500 large-scale “mega-charger” hubs by 2027. Meanwhile, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are also ramping up investments in public fast-charging infrastructure through strategic partnerships, highlighting the industry’s clear shift toward higher-power, future-ready networks.

What Makes Fast Charging Perfect for Public Use

• Highways & transit hubs: Travelers want <60-minute top-ups; DC wins on dwell-time economics.
• Urban forecourts & malls: Turnover matters. Higher kW squeezes more sessions per day, improving site ROI.
• Fleets & logistics: Uptime is revenue. DC and smart scheduling keep vehicles in service longer.

On the other hand, AC charging continues to dominate in residential complexes, office spaces, and other long-dwell locations where vehicles remain parked for extended hours. In such cases, the lower upfront cost of AC hardware makes it a more practical and TCO-friendly choice. What’s emerging, therefore, is a hybrid charging landscape, fast DC chargers driving public and high-throughput use, while AC solutions remain the preferred option for private, overnight, and cost-sensitive charging needs.

Why Site Hosts Are Shifting Towards More DC Chargers

• Higher utilization potential: Faster sessions enable more vehicles served per day, especially at high-traffic forecourts.
• Bundled services & retail uplift: Co-located convenience retail, F&B, or fleet yards benefit from 20–40 minute dwell times.
• Policy-linked capex support: Incentives for fast chargers improve the payback math in early-stage markets.

That said, many operators still deploy mixed sites: a few DC guns for throughput plus multiple AC points for price-sensitive or long-stay users, spreading capex and capturing broader demand.

Tech Trends Making Fast Charging the “New Norm”

1. Higher-power modules (60–240 kW and above) with smart load sharing to right-size power per vehicle.
2. OCPP-based interoperability for cross-network roaming and centralized operations.
3. Solar and BESS coupling to shave demand peaks, cut energy costs, and keep fast chargers resilient during grid events, an approach proven in Servotech’s solar-powered carport pilot.
4. Predictive maintenance & analytics to boost uptime and reduce truck rolls across distributed portfolios.

Highways, Tier-2/3 Cities, and the “Every 50–70 km” Rule of Thumb

As national corridors densify, DC hubs spaced every 50–70 km are becoming common practice among operators, with OMC forecourts as anchor locations. While metro clusters still hold the lion’s share, Tier-2/3 cities are now in scope as intercity travel and regional commerce electrify.

Two-Wheeler & Three-Wheeler Reality Check

India’s EV base is still dominated by two- and three-wheelers, many of which rely on home/work AC charging or swap ecosystems. Public DC is less critical for them day-to-day, but mixed-use forecourts and urban hubs are adding lower-power DC and fast AC to support quick top-ups for e-commerce and delivery fleets, further normalizing “faster than AC wallbox” public experiences.

Will Fast Chargers Fully Replace AC Public Chargers?

Fast chargers won’t completely replace AC chargers because the use case defines the fit. In 2025, DC dominates highways, fleet yards, forecourts, and premium hubs where speed and uptime are critical, while AC remains the smarter choice for workplaces, apartments, hotels, and other long-dwell sites where vehicles sit for hours and lower hardware costs improve total cost of ownership. The most resilient public charging model is therefore complementary: high-power DC for throughput, paired with AC for widespread coverage and affordability.

How Businesses Can Future-Proof Their Rollouts

1. Plan hybrid sites (DC and AC) to match diverse dwell times.
2. Design for solar and storage where feasible to hedge tariffs and enhance reliability.
3. Standardize on CCS2 for four-wheelers while maintaining backward compatibility for legacy fleets.
4. Prioritize uptime with OCPP platforms, proactive maintenance, and strong SLAs.
5. Leverage incentives and OMC partnerships to accelerate scale.

Where Servotech Fits in Your 2025 Plan

If you’re planning public hubs, highway forecourts, or mixed-use depots, Servotech offers:

• Proven DC deployments (60/120 kW), including large OMC rollouts.
• Set up Delhi’s first grid-connected solar-powered EV charging carport.
• Local co-development of charger components with Watt & Well (France) to strengthen Make-in-India supply chains.
• Interoperability R&D to bridge standards during India’s transition to faster protocols.

Conclusion

In 2025, fast charging is becoming the new norm for public EV infrastructure in India, powered by incentives, OMC forecourts, and OEM participation. AC remains essential for homes, workplaces, and long-dwell destinations, but when drivers pull into a public site, they increasingly expect DC speeds.
For charge-point investors, retailers, fleet operators, and municipalities, the winning strategy is hybrid: deploy DC where time is money and AC where cost and dwell align, and integrate solar and storage to future-proof operations. With a growing portfolio of DC fast chargers, solar-integrated pilots, and Make-in-India engineering, Servotech is well placed to help operators build that future faster.