India Invest India and ARC Electric Forge Alliance to Supercharge EV Adoption Across Tier 1 and Tier 2 Cities
India is witnessing a landmark partnership as Invest India joins forces with ARC Electric to significantly accelerate electric vehicle adoption across its Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. In a decisive move, this synergistic collaboration aims to create a robust charging infrastructure, promote investment, and drive policy frameworks that support an accelerating green mobility agenda. With India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, this strategic engagement is poised to remove key barriers to EV adoption, including lack of charging facilities, limited consumer awareness, and fragmented regulatory support.
The comprehensive plan focuses on establishing scalable charging networks, fostering public‑private partnerships, and mobilising financial incentives, all tailored to India’s heterogeneous urban landscapes. Successful EV transitions hinge on reliable infrastructure and consumer confidence, and that’s where this alliance steps in. Invest India, as the national investment promotion agency, brings regulatory insight, stakeholder coordination, and facilitation for investors. ARC Electric contributes deep technical expertise in EV charging systems, engineering standards, and deployment strategies. Together, they intend to accelerate the rollout of fast and slow chargers in city centres, commercial hubs, residential complexes, highways, and public parking lots. A phased implementation will cover major metropolises and expand into smaller cities, ensuring equitable access and encouraging EV adoption beyond the usual urban early adopters.
This collaboration extends to state governments, municipal bodies, commercial property developers, and utilities. Work is already underway on pilot projects in select cities: In one example, a cluster of 10 fast chargers and 50 slow chargers will be installed in a Tier 2 industrial city over six months. Simultaneously, educational campaigns are being designed to increase consumer awareness and trial EV test‑drives. These initiatives will be complemented by training programs for electricians, installers, service technicians, and first responders, building local capacity and preparedness. Invest India is also engaging with financial institutions to promote innovative financing models like battery as a service (BaaS), EV leases, subsidised loans, and green bonds that reduce upfront costs and risk for buyers.
On the regulatory front, the alliance intends to work with central and state governments to streamline rulebooks, standardise charger specifications, simplify permissions, and ensure clear land‑use policies. This would include recommendations on tariff structures for public‑use chargers, net‑metering provisions for solar‑plus‑charging systems, and rights‑of‑way provisions for deploying charging stations in residential and commercial settings. Invest India is expected to coordinate at the federal level with energy, transport, and urban development ministries, while ARC Electric will support technical advisory committees for rollout standards, interoperability protocols, and planning tools.
From an investor perspective, the partnership seeks to send a strong signal of long‑term commitment and de‑risked opportunity. ARC Electric’s participation as a standards‑setting technical partner and Invest India’s role as an investor facilitator will help attract domestic and foreign capital to the EV charging sector. This includes venture capital, private equity, infrastructure funds, as well as consumer‑facing startups, technology providers, and ancillary manufacturers. Tier 2 city implementations are expected to draw local entrepreneurs, cooperatives, and communities into the green economy, leading to job creation in installation, maintenance, and management roles. Over time, this ecosystem could evolve into a self‑sustaining value chain with chargers built, operated, and serviced at scale by domestic players.
Key performance indicators have been established for the initial 18‑month phase. These include: installing at least 1,000 EV chargers across 20 cities, achieving 50% utilisation on publicly accessible chargers, increasing monthly EV sales in pilot areas by 30%, rolling out two BaaS or lease‑based ownership models, training 5,000 EV technicians, and reducing average range anxiety perception by 40% through surveys. An independent advisory council, supported by both organisations, will review progress quarterly, enable real‑time course‑correction, and publish outcomes to encourage replication elsewhere.
The alliance reflects India’s broader sustainable transportation drive. Beyond electric two‑ and three‑wheelers, the long‑term vision includes electric buses, last‑mile delivery fleets, shared electric mobility services, and eventual corridor‑level freight EV integration. With ARC Electric already piloting depot chargers for electric buses and fleet maintenance solutions, the groundwork is being laid for multi‑modal electric empowerment—all with guidance from Invest India’s distribution, regulatory, and investment playbooks.
Critically, the partnership recognises that much of India’s urban footprint exists in Tier 2 cities with growing middle‑class consumer bases. While metropolitan EV adoption is accelerating, smaller cities often lag due to a lack of infrastructure and investment. By democratising EV access through focused rollout, coalition efforts are likely to catalyse a nationwide charging ecosystem leveraging local effective density—turning Tier 2 cities into competitive, electrified hubs.
In summary, the Invest India–ARC Electric collaboration marks a strategic inflection point for India’s EV narrative. It addresses charging infrastructure, funding mechanisms, awareness campaigns, workforce development, and regulatory standardisation—all in one integrated framework. With timelines, performance goals, and public‑private coordination in place, the initiative blends actionable ambition with inclusive implementation across India’s urban hierarchy. As the programme gains momentum, it promises to reshape mobility, lower emissions, empower local economies, and fortify India’s green infrastructure vision.
