1. The cheapest EV tariff band in India
GERC's FY2026-27 orders (25 March 2026) held EV rates at the previous year's levels. On the four state DISCOMs — DGVCL, MGVCL, PGVCL, UGVCL — an LT EV charging station pays a token ₹25 per installation per month fixed plus ₹4.10/kWh post-paid, or ₹3.98 prepaid; HT stations pay ₹25/kVA/month demand plus ₹4.00/kWh.
A prepaid daytime unit can land around ₹3.38 before duty and fuel surcharge — the lowest EV energy rate we can document anywhere in India.
Torrent Power differs by city: Ahmedabad–Gandhinagar LT-EV is ₹4.20/kWh, Surat ₹4.10, each under its own FY27 order — and the licence-area split runs through single metro areas, so a society on SG Highway and a warehouse in rural Ahmedabad district answer to different utilities. GIFT City has its own licensee entirely, as do the Dholera and Dahej zones.
Two costs above the base rate: electricity duty and the FPPAS fuel surcharge apply per the schedule's general conditions — which matters because of what follows.
2. What the 2021 policy no longer guarantees
The Gujarat State Electric Vehicle Policy 2021 ran four years from 1 July 2021 and its operative period ended on 30 June 2025. Three widely quoted benefits need re-dating accordingly:
- The 100% electricity-duty exemption for charging stations was granted "during the period of this policy". Whether it is honoured for new connections in late 2026 is not documented anywhere we could find — treat it as a question for the DISCOM, not a line in your budget.
- The 25% capital subsidy (capped ₹10 lakh) was for the first 250 public stations under that policy, with GUVNL disbursing against a 2023 expression of interest — a closed window, not an open offer.
- The 1% road tax survives — but only because it keeps being renewed. It was due to lapse on 31 March 2026, and the FY2026-27 state budget (18 February 2026) continued the rebate, keeping EV motor-vehicle tax at an effective 1%, reported valid to 31 March 2027. Anyone still quoting "reverted to 6%" is working from the lapse date, not the budget.
Two provisions worth knowing even though they were policy-era: clause 9(v) obliged housing and commercial establishments to give NOCs to members installing chargers at designated parking, and 9(viii) had DISCOMs allow charging from an existing connection at the existing tariff. The dedicated EV category in the current GERC schedules is the successor that matters — it is in force regardless of the policy's fate.
3. Applying through e-Vidhyut
All four state DISCOMs take the application on one portal — e-Vidhyut (portal.guvnl.in): OTP login, the online A1 form with ownership proof or NOC and load details, fee payment, then the DISCOM's site visit. Business applicants can equally route through the national single window (NSWS). Torrent areas apply on Torrent Power Connect (connect.torrentpower.com) and opt into the EV category there.
Sizing rules of thumb: the LT EV connection runs to about 100 kW, HT above it — and note the state DISCOMs and Torrent-Surat bill HT demand per kVA while Torrent-Ahmedabad bills per kW, which changes what poor power factor costs you depending on the city.
4. An industrial state's charging map
Gujarat registered 86,247 EVs in FY2025-26 and 347,880 cumulative — up 353% in five years — with 1,205 public charging stations, eighth nationally. The distinctive demand is industrial:
- Sanand (Tata Motors' EV plant plus a ~2,500-hectare GIDC estate) and Hansalpur (Suzuki) anchor auto-cluster workforces whose cars sit parked through exactly the discounted 11:00–17:00 window — workplace charging here is priced better than anywhere in India.
- Ahmedabad and Surat carry the dense commercial and society stock, under Torrent tariffs and Torrent's portal.
- The Saurashtra–Kutch belt (PGVCL) adds long salt-laden coastline — specify corrosion-rated enclosures — and Kutch sits in the highest seismic zone, so pedestal anchoring to IS 1893 is a real line item, not pedantry.
Interior Gujarat's pre-monsoon heat argues for shaded or ventilated mounting and attention to derating curves; the prepaid rebate (₹3.98 vs ₹4.10) is worth wiring into any payback model.
5. Going deeper
Property-type detail — hotels, offices, societies, homes, with the national hardware ranges — lives on our hotels, offices, housing societies and home installation pages. In Gujarat the survey's added job is administrative: confirming which licensee your address answers to, and what the DISCOM will actually say about duty on a new EV connection.
6. Questions we get asked
What does EV charging electricity cost in Gujarat?
On the state DISCOMs: ₹4.10/kWh post-paid or ₹3.98 prepaid, plus a token ₹25/month per installation, with a 60-paise discount in 11:00-17:00 and a 45-paise peak surcharge. Torrent Ahmedabad is ₹4.20 and Surat ₹4.10 under their own orders. Duty and fuel surcharge apply on top. It is the cheapest EV energy band we can document in India.
Is the electricity-duty exemption still available?
Unclear, and we say so deliberately: it was granted for the period of the 2021 policy, which ended 30 June 2025, and no source confirms the position for new connections since. Ask the DISCOM in writing; do not budget on it.
Is there a subsidy for installing chargers?
The 2021 policy's 25% subsidy covered the first 250 public stations against a 2023 EOI — a closed window. As of 2026 Gujarat's practical advantage is the tariff itself, not a capital grant.
Who do we apply to?
The four state DISCOMs share the e-Vidhyut portal (portal.guvnl.in). Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Surat city addresses are Torrent Power (connect.torrentpower.com), GIFT City has its own licensee, and Dholera and Dahej their own Torrent licences — in Gujarat, confirming the licensee is genuinely step one.
When should chargers run here?
Late morning through afternoon: 11:00-17:00 carries a 60-paise/kWh discount while 07:00-11:00 and 18:00-22:00 carry a 45-paise surcharge. For factory and office car parks that is simply the shift pattern; for hotels it favours the checkout-to-checkin window.
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Sources for the figures on this page: