The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to establish 135 electric vehicle charging stations along national highways in the state. The plan is part of the PM e-Drive scheme, under which the state has proposed a total of 444 charging centres to be developed in phases.

Officials identified vacant land belonging to government departments, public sector units, municipal corporations, power companies and discoms. Based on this assessment, a proposal was sent to the Centre in the first week of February. After reviewing nearly 200 locations, the central team approved 135 sites for the first phase.

Around 600 charging units are expected to be installed across these centres. Each station will have facilities to charge cars, two wheelers, auto rickshaws and even heavy vehicles.

Officials from NREDCAP said tenders will be invited in April, after which contractors will be selected to carry out the work. The government aims to make the charging stations operational by July or August.

The estimated cost of setting up one charging station is about ₹50 lakh. Of this, 80 percent will be funded by the central government, while the remaining 20 percent will be borne by state discoms. Operators will be chosen through a tender process to manage supply, installation and operation for five years. Most of the revenue generated from these stations will go to the discoms, which will compensate operators as per agreement terms.

In the second phase, the government plans to expand EV charging infrastructure in major cities such as Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur and Tirupati. Proposals for these locations have already been submitted to the Centre.