Starting an EV charging station business in Karnataka: rules, EV tariff, connection and costs

The rules in one place

Setting up and running a charging station is a de-licensed activity. Any person or company can do it without a licence under the Electricity Act, as long as the station meets the technical, safety and performance standards set by the Central Electricity Authority and the Ministry of Power (MoP).

• MoP Guidelines for Installation and Operation of EV Charging Infrastructure, 2024 (17 September 2024) apply to public, semi-public and private charging. They set connection timelines for distribution companies (3 to 90 days depending on the area and work needed), a target density of one station in every 1 km by 1 km grid in cities and one every 20 km on both sides of highways by 2030, and a revenue share of ₹1 per kWh for stations on land owned by government bodies.
• The same guidelines cap the service charge at public stations until 31 March 2028: ₹3 per unit (solar hours) and ₹4 per unit (non-solar hours) for AC slow charging, and ₹11 and ₹13 for DC fast charging. Check the full text for when the caps apply to your site.
• BESCOM has been designated by the state as the nodal agency for EV charging infrastructure in Karnataka and runs its own stations, located through its EV Mithra app.
• The Karnataka Clean Mobility Policy 2025-30, released on 11 February 2025, offers a 25% capital subsidy on fast charging stations, up to ₹10 lakh per station, for the first 500 stations. It offers nothing for slow chargers.

The KERC EV tariff

Charging stations and battery swapping stations have their own tariff schedule, LT-6(c)/HT. The March 2025 order kept it unchanged for all three years to 2027-28.

The MoP guidelines call for a single-part tariff for EV charging (energy charge only), linked to the average cost of supply with cheaper solar-hour rates. Karnataka still has a fixed or demand charge. The ToD schedule in the Karnataka order is written for HT charging in BMTC and RTC bus depots. Ask your ESCOM whether any ToD option is open to a private station.

This tariff needs a separate connection and meter used only for EV charging. If you are only adding a charger at your house, read our home EV charger guide instead.

Choosing the charger mix

The charger you pick decides your connection size, your fixed charge and which customers you serve. Match it to the vehicles that already pass the site.

Start smaller than the brochure suggests, but lay the cable, conduit and transformer space for the next stage. Pulling a second cable later costs more than oversizing the trench now. Keep in mind that the state's 25% capital subsidy covers only fast charging, so a slow-charger-only station has to stand on its own numbers.

Ask every charger supplier for the BIS or CEA compliance documents, the warranty terms for the power modules, how many service engineers they have in your district, and how long a spare part takes to reach a site outside Bengaluru. A DC charger that sits dead for three weeks in Kalaburagi or Mangaluru loses its regular customers. Insist on remote monitoring, so you know a gun has tripped before the customer drives away.

Getting the connection from your ESCOM

A pair of 60 kW DC chargers alone will exceed what most roadside LT transformers can spare. Ask the subdivision for the transformer's spare capacity before you sign a lease. See our HT connection and transformer guide and CEIG approval guide.

What the hardware costs

Prices vary widely by brand, number of guns and software. These ranges are from Indian suppliers and operators in 2025-26. They exclude GST unless stated, and you should get real quotes.

The hidden costs are usually the transformer, the HT or LT cable from the pole, civil work for the bay and canopy, earthing, CCTV, an internet link for the app, and land rent. Budget for a payment and app platform (OCPP-compatible chargers let you switch operators later).

Why utilisation decides everything

The fixed charge is paid every month whether cars come or not. Take a station with 60 kW sanctioned on LT-6(c):

These figures leave out electricity tax, surcharges, rent, staff and the payment platform's share, so treat them as a floor. A quiet station loses money on power alone. Look for sites where vehicles already stop for 20 to 40 minutes: highway eateries, hospital and mall car parks, taxi and delivery hubs. Delivery fleets of e-scooters and three-wheelers often bring steadier business than private cars. Before you sign, sit at the site for a few evenings and count the electric vehicles that pass and stop.

Mistakes that sink new stations, and rooftop solar on the canopy

Most stations that struggle made their mistakes before the first car arrived.

• Choosing the site by rent. Cheap land on a road where nobody stops sells few units. A higher rent at a restaurant or hospital car park is usually the better deal.
• Signing the lease before the power check. If the nearby transformer has no spare capacity, the station waits for a new transformer or an HT line. Get the spare capacity in writing first.
• Oversizing the sanctioned load. The fixed charge is paid on sanctioned load every month. Start with the chargers you can fill and add capacity later through load enhancement.
• Ignoring power quality. DC chargers are electronic loads. They can inject harmonics and affect the power factor on an LT connection with motive power. Read our power factor and APFC guide before you add capacitors to the site.
• Not being visible. Drivers find chargers through apps and maps. List the station on the main charging apps from day one, and keep its status accurate.
• No backup plan for faults. A charger that is down for weeks loses fleet customers for good. Fix the service terms with the supplier before you buy.

Solar on the canopy. Under the KERC 2026 regulations, net metering is open to all consumer categories up to the sanctioned load or 1,000 kW. A canopy or rooftop plant at a station that sells most of its units in daylight, such as one serving delivery fleets or office car parks, cuts the units bought from the ESCOM at ₹4.50. Surplus is paid at only ₹3.11 (DCR panels) or ₹2.34 (non-DCR), so size the plant to daytime sales, not to the canopy area. See net metering rules in Karnataka. Canopies and tall chargers in open sites also need lightning and surge protection.

Site and safety checklist

Questions

Sources

Rules and figures in this article were checked against these sources on 30 Sep 2026. Schemes and tariffs change, so confirm with the official office before you act.

• KERC Combined Tariff Order 2025 for all ESCOMs (27 Mar 2025), via OpenCity data portal
• Mercom India: Ministry of Power releases EV charging infrastructure guidelines 2024
• Power Line: MoP guidelines for EV charging infrastructure 2024
• Saur Energy: Karnataka Clean Mobility Policy 2025-30
• Bolt.Earth: Karnataka EV policy and charging infrastructure (2026)
• BESCOM: Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
• MyEVCharger: DC fast charger price in India
• Bolt.Earth: EV fast charger cost in India 2026
• Pulse Energy: Cost and setup process for EV charging stations in India

Read next