The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has invited expressions of interest (EoI) from charge point operators (CPO) for establishing electric vehicle (EV) public charging stations under the Centre’s PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme.
The KSEB on Friday invited the EoI for operators under category C of the scheme for establishing charging stations on land parcels with ‘unrestricted public access.’ Category C covers charging infrastructure for locations such as city streets, shopping malls, market complexes and highways.
The charge point operator must be an established organisation or company engaged in the development and management of EV charging infrastructure, according to the KSEB.
PM E-DRIVE has a national outlay of ₹10,900 Crore. The Union Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has earmarked ₹2,000 crore for public charging infrastructure under four categories of the PM E-DRIVE. The key objective is to accelerate EV adoption by establishing a robust network of public charging network across the country.
Nodal agency
Through an October 16 order, the Kerala government has designated KSEB as the State nodal agency for the scheme to aggregate the demand for charging stations and submit proposals to the MHI. Under category C, the CPOs are eligible for 80% subsidy on upstream infrastructure costs.
The KSEB had already submitted Phase-I and Phase-II proposals under the scheme covering KSEB-owned and government-allotted land parcels. These proposals cover 342 locations with 1,030 chargers across categories A and B, with an estimated project cost of ₹274 crore. Category A covers State and Union government premises and category B, locations in cities and along highways owned or controlled by the State and Union governments.
Online portal
“While the KSEB is directly coordinating with government departments for category A and B (public land), it has developed a dedicated online portal to facilitate the applications from the CPOs for category C,” the EoI document said. The MHI has full authority for the final evaluation and approval of proposals and is responsible for sanctioning and releasing subsidies under the scheme.
Kerala has over 3 lakh electric vehicles, mostly passenger vehicles, on its roads at present. The State is now in the process of establishing high-capacity charging infrastructure and related facilities for e-trucks along freight corridors under the PM E-DRIVE.
Published – December 21, 2025 07:22 pm IST
