State EV Policy Scores Just Jumped: What The India Electric Mobility Index 2025 Means For Fleets

India’s state EV scorecard moved a long way in twelve months. The India Electric Mobility Index 2025, the second edition of NITI Aayog’s subnational e-mobility index, launched on 16 September 2026 with the top jurisdiction at 84 out of 100, up from 77, and the median state up from 36 to 40.

For anyone running last-mile or corporate fleets across more than one state, that is a deployment signal, not a scoreboard curiosity: the Index scores what actually slows a multi-state rollout — charging-connection approval times, commercial-vehicle permit exemptions, concessional land, and whether a policy is still in force. (Its three-theme structure was covered when the government’s EV ecosystem report introduced it.)

What Changed In Year Two

The top of the table is stable and getting tighter. Delhi held first while improving 77 to 84; Maharashtra stayed second, adding ten points to 78. Karnataka took third on 73, overtaking Chandigarh, which slipped to fourth despite rising to 71. Tamil Nadu improved to 61 and still lost a place to a fast-rising Goa.

A falling rank does not always mean a falling state

Madhya Pradesh produced the standout move, 23rd (31) to seventh (59), behind a new EV approvals portal and five EV Model Cities focused on public-transport electrification. Others lost ground while holding their scores, because the country improved faster: Ladakh fell from 13th (45) to 25th (32), attributed mainly to a revised charging-infrastructure assessment. Reordering reflects methodology change as well as state action — read the score trend, not the rank.

Key Findings From The India Electric Mobility Index 2025

The 36 jurisdictions are scored inside three peer groups — 17 Large States, 12 Hilly and Northeastern States, seven UTs and City States — banded from Top Performer (65+) down to Aspirant (below 35). Spreads are wide: Delhi (84) and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (10) share a category.

1. Only two large states cleared the top band — Maharashtra (78) and Karnataka (73). Eight bunched into the Frontrunner band, from Tamil Nadu (61) to Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on 51.
2. Charging readiness is the strongest theme, and still thin: six Top Performers, led by Karnataka (97) and Goa (92) — yet two-thirds of the country fell below the Frontrunner line.
3. Vehicle adoption is the binding constraint. On Transport Electrification Progress, 50% of the composite, only Delhi (77), Chandigarh (75) and Maharashtra (68) cleared 65; 14 of 36 fell to Aspirant.

What The Index Scores That A Fleet Cares About

Most state rankings measure ambition. This one measures line items you can put in a business case — several of its 16 indicators are the concessions a fleet negotiates for when entering a state.

• Commercial EV adoption is scored separately — three-wheelers, taxis, buses and light, medium and heavy goods vehicles. A state can look strong on two-wheelers and be untested on your classes.
• Operational support is four yes/no checks: reserved parking, low-emission zones, permit exemptions for commercial EVs, and interest subvention on EV finance. The last two move cost per vehicle directly.
• Charging is scored on process, not just money — single-window or fixed-lead-time connection approvals, concessional land rates, a nodal agency, bye-laws mandating charging in new buildings. Approval lead time is the longest pole in a depot build.

Read the theme scores, never the composite alone

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh both scored 51, and those 51s imply opposite plans: lean on existing charging in Haryana, build depot capacity in Uttar Pradesh. Teams that get this right hold state-by-state energy, uptime and cost data in one place through a fleet operating system like YoMobility, paired with YoCharge’s charging management platform where they own chargers.

Notified Is Not The Same As Active

29 of 36 states and UTs have notified an EV policy since Karnataka’s in September 2017. The number that should drive your budget is different: only 26 are currently active, six are draft or expired, four never had one.

The renewal cycle cuts the other way too. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra used renewed policies to back electric trucks after PM E-DRIVE — Maharashtra offers up to ₹20 lakh each for the first 1,000 electric heavy goods vehicles registered there. Delhi went further in June 2026 with India’s first electrification mandates: 100% for autorickshaws and light commercial vehicles from January 2027, two-wheelers from 2028. For an NCR LCV operator that is a replacement timetable, not an incentive question.

What It Means For Multi-State Fleet Planning

NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba framed the launch nationally: India imports nearly 89% of its crude oil, the automotive sector is about 7.1% of GDP and 1.9 crore jobs, and cumulative central support exceeds ₹92,000 crore across FAME, PM E-DRIVE, PM E-Bus Sewa and two PLI schemes. He flagged the new Unified Bharat e-Charge app as the next step for public-charging access, relevant to fleets running multi-network charging management. The planning signal is his three priorities for states: electrify public transport first, distribute charging spatially, invest in research.

Public transport first — commercial fleets inherit the grid

The first priority helps goods fleets for an unglamorous reason: e-bus depots force utilities to build feeder and transformer capacity at depot scale, and settle sanctioned-load and tariff questions before a private operator asks. Delhi’s 4,286 electric buses, as of February 2026, sit on the grid a city logistics depot connects to — though sanctioned and deployed e-buses differ sharply.

Distribution beats totals, and gaps are arbitrage

The second is the difference between an impressive state total and a route that closes: the Index counts public charging points per lakh registered vehicles, and India’s growth from about 5,151 public stations in December 2022 to over 29,000 by June 2025 sits mostly in the six jurisdictions above the Top Performer line. Gauba’s view that differing state strategies are a strength reads, for a fleet, as arbitrage — and the states told to add permit exemptions and interest subvention for commercial EVs (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Haryana) are where a submission to the transport department has a live window.

Download The India Electric Mobility Index 2025 Report

The full 170-page report carries a profile for every state and union territory — rank, theme and indicator scores, and NITI Aayog’s own recommendations. If you are building a state-entry shortlist, the profiles are the part to read.

Frequently Asked Questions

Source: Press Information Bureau — NITI Aayog, 16 September 2026 (Release ID 2310804) | India Electric Mobility Index (IEMI) 2025 — NITI Aayog with WRI India, September 2026 | Vahan Dashboard, MoRTH.