Despite policy incentives and rising registrations, Gujarat’s EV transition remains modest.
Out of 29.2 million vehicles, only 398,582 are electric, and the state scores 42 in the India Electric Mobility Index, ranking 16th.
Strong government support contrasts with low private uptake, limited e-rickshaw presence and gaps in strategically planned charging infrastructure across the state.
Electric vehicles are seen as a major alternative to vehicular pollution and dependence on petrol and diesel imports. But in Gujarat, their share in the total vehicle fleet remains small. The state government has introduced policies and incentives to promote electric mobility, but vehicle registration data shows that electric vehicles still make up only a small fraction of all registered vehicles.
According to registration data available on VAHAN, the Union Ministry of Road, Transport &Highways’s online portal, a total of 29,267,731 vehicles were registered in Gujarat as of August 13, 2026. These included 235,314 vehicles in the electric battery-operated vehicle category and 163,268 vehicles in the “pure EV” category. Taken together, the number of electric vehicles in the state stood at 398,582.
This represents only 1.36 per cent of the total registered vehicle fleet. By comparison, Gujarat’s transport fleet remains heavily dependent on petrol and diesel. The number of petrol vehicles in the state is nearly 52 times higher than the number of electric vehicles.
Gujarat has seen an increase in electric vehicle registrations in recent years. According to VAHAN data, 75,758 electric vehicles were registered in the 2024-25 financial year. This increased to 86,281 in 2025-26, a rise of about 14 per cent in one year.
In the current financial year, 2026-27, 75,970 electric vehicles had already been registered as of August 15. This means that in just four and a half months, registrations had reached about 88 per cent of the previous financial year’s total.
Despite this increase, Gujarat continues to lag behind several other states on broader electric mobility indicators. In the first India Electric Mobility Index 2024 report, released by central apex think tank NITI Aayog in August 2025, Gujarat ranked 16th, with a score of 42.
According to the report, the state’s Transport Electrification Progress score was 39, its Charging Infrastructure Readiness score was 44 and its EV Research and Innovation Status score was 46.
The report shows a mixed picture. Gujarat performs well on government initiatives and consumer incentives, but its private EV adoption score is only 5. This points to a gap between policy support and actual consumer uptake.
A similar contradiction is visible in charging infrastructure. Gujarat’s overall charging infrastructure readiness score was 44. The state scored 100 on public charging infrastructure and capital subsidy indicators, but its EV-to-charger ratio score was 24, and its charging infrastructure development planning score was 33.
This suggests that the challenge is not only to build charging stations, but also to create an adequate and strategically distributed charging network for a growing EV fleet. No later India Electric Mobility Index report has been released by NITI Aayog since the August 2025 report.
One striking feature of Gujarat’s EV transition is the very small number of e-rickshaws in the state. While e-rickshaws have grown rapidly in many parts of India, only 1,284 passenger e-rickshaws are registered in Gujarat. The number of freight e-rickshaws is higher, at 4,181.
Suresh Bhai, who retired from Delhi two years ago and returned to Ahmedabad, said battery-powered e-rickshaws play a different role in the capital. “In Delhi, e-rickshaws serve as feeders for access to the metro or DTC buses, but that is not the case in Ahmedabad. This is why people have to keep at least a two-wheeler at home,” he said.
He added, however, that e-rickshaws also contribute to traffic congestion in Delhi.
The Gujarat government released the Gujarat State Electric Vehicle Policy on June 23, 2021. The policy aimed to shift the state’s transport sector towards electric mobility, make Gujarat a manufacturing hub for electric vehicles and their components, promote investment and start-ups in the sector, and reduce air pollution. It was implemented for four years from July 1, 2021.
Under the policy, the state aimed to support the purchase of 200,000 electric vehicles in the first four years. This included 110,000 two-wheelers, 70,000 three-wheelers and 20,000 four-wheelers.
The policy also provided state subsidies of up to Rs 10,000 per kilowatt hour on vehicle purchases, along with support for charging infrastructure and incentives for electric vehicle manufacturing.
EV adoption was slow in the initial year. Data shows that 19,032 EVs were registered in 2021-22. This increased to 81,121 in 2022-23 and 88,440 in 2023-24. After a slow start, registrations rose sharply in the second and third years. Over the four-year policy period, 257,735 EVs were registered in Gujarat, the data showed.