Electric Two-Wheeler Penetration Nears 10 Percent as Centre Sanctions Rs 776 Crore for EV Testing

Electric Two-Wheelers Near 10 Percent of India's Market

Electric two-wheelers accounted for nearly one in every ten two-wheelers sold in India during April-August FY27, government officials said on Friday, as the Centre approved Rs 776.29 crore to strengthen testing infrastructure for electric vehicles and other emerging automotive technologies. The figures were disclosed at the PM E-Drive Dialogue with industry at ICAT in Manesar, presided over by Heavy Industries Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

The testing money covers ICAT in Manesar, ARAI in Pune, GARC in Chennai and NATRAX in Indore, and is aimed at preparing India's certification infrastructure for electric vehicles, batteries and clean technologies. Additional Secretary Hanif Qureshi said the Rs 776 crore had been sanctioned under PM E-Drive, and pointed to ICAT's Rs 142-crore profit last year as evidence that testing agencies can be self-sustaining.

The demand-side numbers were the more striking part of the briefing. Suneet Shukla, chief general manager at IFCI, reported that electric two-wheeler penetration reached 9.9 percent during April-August FY27, up from 6.6 percent in FY26, while electric L5 three-wheelers hit 46.1 percent of their segment. Alongside this, PM E-Drive's outlay has been raised to Rs 11,900 crore, incentives for electric two-wheelers have been extended until March 2028, and the programme's two-wheeler target has nearly doubled from 24.8 lakh to 45.8 lakh vehicles.

For context on how quickly this market is compounding, including the manufacturers racing to add capacity, see our electric vehicle coverage and the monthly sales data on AUTOINDIA.

What This Means for You

For a buyer, the policy signal is clear: subsidies on electric two-wheelers are now locked in until March 2028 with a bigger target, so the post-subsidy price shock that hit the segment in the past is unlikely to repeat soon. Better-funded testing agencies should also mean faster, more rigorous certification of new EVs and batteries — quietly important for safety and resale value. Compare electric and petrol two-wheelers on the AUTOINDIA Compare tool before you commit.

(Sources: The Hindu BusinessLine report on the PM E-Drive Dialogue at ICAT Manesar, 25/09/2026. Cover image: Wikimedia Commons, photo by Viswaprabha, CC BY-SA 3.0.)