Union Minister of Heavy Industries Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey said that since charging is the primary concern for using electric vehicles (EVs), the government has chosen nine expressways where 6,000 charging stations have been sanctioned and about 3,000 shall be installed soon.

The union minister asked the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to develop technology to reduce the charging time for electric vehicles.

He spoke at a press conference yesterday after an industry interaction meet organised by the Ministry of Heavy Industries in association with ARAI, SIAM and ACMA to share information about the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for the automotive sector.

"The auto field contributes to about 14-15 per cent of GDP, which can go up to 25-30 per cent and can support the PM's vision for making India a USD 5 trillion economy. The sale of electric vehicles has increased drastically in the last few months due to the various schemes and subsidies provided by the government," he said.

He further stated that the Advanced Chemical Cell (ACC), which is the main component of the EV battery, is currently imported, and about 30 per cent of the cost of the EV is the cost of the battery itself.

He said that this could be reduced if it is locally produced. He further added that this is possible because about 70 per cent of the material used in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries is already available in India.

"With these newly introduced PLI schemes, the government is providing support up to Rs 362 crore per gigawatt in this sector of EVs," the union minister said.

The Minister said that the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for ACC will lead to an investment of Rs 42,500 crore and further accelerate manufacturing components and batteries in India.