ANDE Asia Climate and Environmental Learning Lab unpacked key insights from Charging Ahead – Part II, a collaborative report by GameChanger Law Advisors and Speciale Invest.
The participants explored regulatory developments, business model innovations, investment pathways critical to scaling EV charging and battery swapping infrastructure across India and comparable markets in Southeast Asia.
India has achieved a fivefold increase in electric vehicle charging stations over three years, yet a sobering statistic reveals the scale of work ahead: the country maintains just one charger for every 235 electric vehicles. As Asian markets race to electrify their transportation systems, this infrastructure deficit threatens to stall the region’s climate ambitions.
The numbers tell a story of both progress and urgency. India now operates more than 25,000 public charging stations, with Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh leading regional development. Last year, the country sold nearly 2 million EVs. But the charging infrastructure has not kept pace with consumer adoption, creating bottlenecks that could undermine confidence in electric mobility.
Investment has responded to the opportunity. Over the past seven years, Indian startups focused on charging infrastructure have raised $680 million from venture capitalists, private equity firms, banks, and impact investors. After peaking at over $200 million in 2023, funding declined to $92 million last year. Yet this contraction masks a maturation: while fewer startups are securing capital, successful companies are attracting larger ticket sizes, suggesting investors are backing proven business models rather than speculative ventures.
Government policy has been instrumental in catalyzing this growth. India’s FAME II program deployed approximately $100 million to install 7,400 fast chargers, primarily through public sector companies. Its successor, the PM E-Drive Initiative, aims to establish 20,000 charging stations by 2026 with a budget of $240 million. Additional incentives include concessional loans for small enterprises and a reduction in goods and services tax on EVs and charging services from 18 percent to 5 percent.
These measures support India’s “30 by 30” target: ensuring electric vehicles account for 30 percent of all vehicle sales by 2030. Achieving this goal will require continued coordination between policymakers and private capital, particularly as 90 percent of charging stations are projected to provide slow charging, necessitating strategic placement and operational efficiency.
Indonesia’s experience offers cautionary lessons. With approximately 250,000 electric vehicles, the country lags India considerably. Venture capital has largely evaporated across Southeast Asia over the past two years, compounded by regulatory complexity that treats individual charging stations like major power plants. Kevin Pudjiadi, chief executive of Indonesian operator Casion, notes that obtaining licenses for each station requires navigating the same bureaucratic process as a mega power plant, an absurd barrier that discourages international investment.
The Indonesian government is beginning to recognize these constraints. Recent moves to raise the floor price for electricity sales from 18 cents to 25-28 cents per kilowatt-hour could reduce payback periods from 2.5 years to 1.5 years for efficient operators. Discussions are underway to reclassify charging stations as electricity distributors rather than generators, potentially easing entry for foreign investors.
As both countries pursue electric mobility, the contrast is instructive. India demonstrates that targeted subsidies, tax incentives, and streamlined regulations can mobilize private capital at scale. Indonesia illustrates how heavy-handed government control and bureaucratic complexity can stifle the very markets policymakers aim to develop. For Asia’s electric future, getting the regulatory architecture right matters as much as the charging infrastructure itself.