Q: India is the first country outside of Europe where you are operating. Why this entry?

Jha: The Indian market is different from the Nordic and European markets, and it is the first country outside Europe, where Fortum entered the electric vehicle charging space in 2017. We have integrated a couple of Indian chargers into our system and this enables us to deploy ‘Made in India’ chargers to our network. This will give our customers the freedom to choose the chargers, their availability, price and other benefits.

Fortum established its first charging station in New Delhi in 2017. Its services in India include owning charging infrastructure, operating other’s charging infrastructure network using Fortum’s own cloud-based charging system and selling Fortum’s proven off-the-shelf cloud system to other operators to manage charging infrastructure in the B2B segment. 

Q: How do you see and predict the EV market in India?

Jha:  India will benefit from the global growth of EV technologies and can reach a maturity stage faster than in other countries. As Tesla did for the US market, start-ups in India are poised to promote the adoption of EVs. Free from any legacy baggage, they are able to offer pure electric vehicles as is evident on the road, particularly in the two and three-wheeler sector. Traditional OEMs also are trying to hold on to their market share. Hyundai has taken the lead by introducing Kona. The electric version of Maruti cars can be seen on the road though in test mode. More than ten models of electric vehicles are slated for launch in the next 12-18 months. Tata Motors has announced plans to introduce more models of the electric variant. Mahindra promises to launch KUV 100 and SUV 300 with the electric powertrain. With India poised to become the third-largest auto market in the world, none of the players would like to miss this great opportunity.

With more and more renewable energy being fed into the grid, the use of EVs will provide the flexible load to balance the system. 

Q: What are the fundamental differences between India and Europe in terms of vehicle requirements and charging infrastructure?

Jha: India and Europe share a common requirement in the automobile space. India generally follows the European automotive emission norms as Euro 6. Europe started the EV journey with high voltage system cars like Nissan Leaf, which warrants a different set of chargers to offer good customer experience. Starting from 50kW DC chargers, Europe has moved to high power charging capacity of 350kW in DC mode which brings down the charging time to about 10 minutes for a 150-200km range. On the AC side in public charging, it has a network of 22kW chargers which offer semi-fast charging to most of the vehicles. The 3.3 kW AC chargers are generally deployed at home and parking places.

India, on the other hand, has a different vehicle composition. Most of its EVs are two and three-wheelers which have a different kind of charging need. They are currently dominated by lead-acid batteries. In the four-wheeler passenger car segment also, India started with a unique product. The available cars are on low voltage battery system, which requires a different set of chargers – 15/20 kW power in DC mode. They need longer charging time than their counterparts in Europe where a car with almost double the size of battery can get charged in nearly half the charging time than in India. Now, a few OEMs have started selling high voltage system cars which would require 50kW charging infrastructure. 

Another significant difference between Europe and India is the need for public charging. Most of the European countries have single-family low-rise homes with garage whereas Indian cities like Delhi have mostly unorganised street parking. This fundamentally alters the need of charging infrastructure in India. While in Europe home charging would be dominating, India will need public charging as the dominant mode.

Q: Charging infrastructure and time is probably the biggest hindrance in the adaptation of EVs in India? How do you find opportunities in this area?

Jha: Three major interdependent stakeholders influence the evolvement of EVs in any country. They are: automobile manufacturers, battery manufacturers, and charging infrastructure providers. Given the limited use of e-vehicles in India now, the infrastructure for the same is also at a very nascent stage. The lack of sufficient infrastructure could be the most common reason for the range concern that directly affects the consumer behaviour and potential of EV sales in India. However, from the operators’ point of view, it is difficult to invest in charging infrastructure without an existing demand for charging services.

India will need ubiquitous public charging networks. India needs millions of charging points once all cars sales happen on the electric platform. This offers huge opportunity for both the private and the public sectors. However, considering the space constraint and inadequate electricity infrastructure, setting up such a massive network of public charging will be a demanding task. Government support will be required in making locations available for this purpose if we have to roll out a good network of charging stations. 

For EVs to be acceptable, consumers have to be assured of the availability of charging stations like fuel stations for ICE vehicles. A robust charging station network would give them confidence, and that would work as a pull effect on OEMs. 

Q: India is a vast country. How are you going to identify and target the regions or pockets where EV adaptation will be faster?

Jha: As it happens with any new technological product, initially EV will be adopted by innovators or early adopters. We expect that these vehicles will be adopted mostly in cities with the highest per capita income. We operate now in five cities: Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. We have 66 DC public charging points. Since the launch of our DC fast-charging stations in Hyderabad, we have seen positive adoption of electric vehicles by customers. We have more than 900 registered users, and more than 1500 customers have downloaded our mobile app. These are smart chargers which are unmanned and give freedom to the consumer to charge their vehicles at the location of their choice, and at their convenience.

Q: Do you think public utility places would play a more prominent role in increasing the number of EV charging stations? Could you highlight Fortum India’s partnership with Indian Oil?

Jha: We provide our bit in creating reliable and smart charging infrastructure. Our first DC fast public charging station in Hyderabad came up at IOC COCO retail outlet at Begumpet. We are operating 16 charging points at eight retail outlets of IOC in Hyderabad. We demonstrated our capability of operating smart chargers by unveiling the charging of Mahindra e2oplus remotely from Hotel ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad, using Fortum Charge & Drive Mobile App.

Q: How many EV charging stations has Fortum India set up so far, and what is the immediate target?

Jha: Fortum has made 66 DC Fast charging points operational in Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad. Fortum Charge & Drive also offers a cloud solution to EV charging service providers and infrastructure investors.

Recently, we have established India’s first public charging network of 50 kW DC chargers at dealership locations of MG Motors. Any car owner can access these stations if the car is compatible with CCS/CHAdeMO standards. We are continuously evaluating opportunities across the country.

Q: How do you see the role of the stakeholders such as charging station infrastructure manufacturers, energy companies and operators in the growth of EV adoption?

Jha: Each stakeholder has a role to play in EV adoption in India. It is important to note that it is the vehicle and its battery system which determines the charging infrastructure need, not otherwise. The charging standards or capacity of chargers or time of charging, and everything is dependent on the design of the battery and its management system adopted by the OEMs. Charging manufacturers and operators follow the demand. In charging ecosystem, manufacturer caters to the supply side by offering his product which can be put to use by charge point operators at strategic locations. Energy distribution companies also have a critical role to play. EV charging, particularly public charging in DC mode, requires high capacity which might need augmentation of electricity infrastructure. Energy to Charge Point Operators (CPOs) should be provided at a reasonable price so that end-consumers can charge their vehicles at affordable prices. Efforts of all these stakeholders have to get aligned.

Q: What have been the ground-level challenges for Fortum India?

Jha: Access to a suitable location and electricity supply is a major challenge. The number of EVs initially will be less, so also the business for the Charge Point Operators. It will be more challenging if CPOs have to pay rent for the space or bear any upfront cost on electricity infrastructure. So it is expected that these two parts would be taken care of by the government or partners to make EVs affordable for the customers.

Q: Being in the EV charging station space, what do you expect from the government?

Jha: For the manufacture of EVs and the growth of the industry, the government introduced the FAME scheme. It would also support the manufacturing of advanced batteries which will accelerate the adoption of EVs by bringing down the cost of the battery. Tax reduction is a significant boost for the consumer as it would push the EV price to inch towards ICE vehicle price. 

Creating a robust and smart charging network should be the focus. Although through FAME-II the government has called for proposals on the setting up of 1000 electric vehicle charging stations in the country, this is not enough. Consumers would like to have charging points at their preferred locations, time, and price to avoid range anxiety. This requires a robust, ubiquitous, and friendly charging network of stations. As charging takes more time than gasoline refuelling, the consumer would like to find a charging station in an exciting place where he would feel happy to spend time while the vehicle gets charged.

We have to add lakhs of charging points year after year if in future all vehicles sold are electric. This would require access to space, which is scarce, particularly in urban areas. Augmented electricity infrastructure would be needed at the local network level even though at the national level this will not be significant. So if the government finds some ways to offer space and upgrades electricity connections on the plug-and-play mode to CPOs it will give a boost to the creation of charging infrastructure. 

EV charging would be a different proposition. Unlike oil and CNG, this has interdependency of battery and electricity. Appropriate communication is needed between battery and charger, and charge and grid, to ensure safety and reliability to the vehicle and grid. This necessitates that charging infrastructure must be smart. This would also warrant a smart grid. What is needed is a greater and urgent push towards upgradation and strengthening of both electricity and charging infrastructure. (MT)

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Digital payment infrastructure company ToneTag has launched an in-car fuel payment system at the Global Fintech Fest 2026.

The solution is developed for TATA.CARS under the name DrivePay and integrates National Payments Corporation of India's UPI Circle framework for Internet of Things devices to enable direct fuel payments at IndianOil retail outlets.

The DrivePay platform integrates payment capabilities into connected vehicle infotainment screens. Drivers can simply pay at fuel stations from the vehicle dashboard without using mobile applications, physical cards, or external payment terminals.

The service also incorporates IndianOil’s XTRAREWARDS loyalty scheme, automatically crediting reward points to customer accounts without requiring mobile number inputs during checkout. Following the initial demonstration at GFF 2026, deployment will begin across IndianOil outlets ahead of a wider rollout.

Vivek Kumar Singh, Co-Founder and Director – Labs, ToneTag, said, "Payments are rapidly moving beyond traditional interfaces such as cards and smartphones, and connected devices are emerging as the next frontier for commerce. With DrivePay, powered by ToneTag, we are bringing an IoT-based UPI Circle payment experience directly into the connected vehicle. This initiative with IndianOil, TATA.CARS and NPCI demonstrates how payment infrastructure can seamlessly extend into connected devices, enabling the vehicle itself to become a secure payment interface. We believe this is an important step towards a future where mobility, payments and commerce are seamlessly connected."

The project combines IndianOil's retail distribution network, TATA.CARS' vehicle hardware, ToneTag's payment processing software and NPCI's UPI transaction network. ToneTag plans to extend its connected vehicle payment systems to additional automotive original equipment manufacturers and mobility providers.

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Hyundai Motor India, one of the leading passenger vehicle manufacturers, has introduced the Hyundai Bluelink Remote Immobiliser security feature for the Hyundai Venue and Venue N Line models.

The feature is available on the connected-car-Navigation-Cockpit equipped HX10 variant of the Venue and the N10 variant of the Venue N Line.

The security system allows vehicle owners to immobilise a parked car via the Hyundai Bluelink mobile application, preventing engine restart in scenarios involving key cloning or unauthorised access.

In cases of suspected theft, users can trigger the immobiliser remotely, locking the engine start capability once the ignition is turned off. The system operates alongside network-dependent live location tracking to assist vehicle recovery. For safety reasons, the software does not cut power or shut down an active engine while the vehicle is in motion.

The feature is being deployed via a Controller Over-the-Air update leveraging Hyundai's Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture. Eligible Venue and Venue N Line models sold since November 2025 will receive the update automatically without requiring physical service centre visits. The ccNC system allows over-the-air updates across up to 19 individual vehicle controllers.

Furthermore, From September 2026, the remote immobiliser will be standard equipment on HX10 and N10 variants, with plans for phased implementation across other Bluelink-enabled models.

Tarun Garg, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India, said, “With Hyundai Bluelink now powering over eight lakh connected vehicles in India, we continue to strengthen our connected mobility ecosystem by delivering meaningful innovations that address evolving customer needs. Hyundai Bluelink Remote Immobiliser offers customers greater control and peace of mind by enabling them to remotely secure their parked Hyundai VENUE or VENUE N Line and respond quickly in the event of suspected theft, while incorporating safeguards that prioritise customer safety. Importantly, this feature also demonstrates the future-ready potential of Hyundai’s Software-Defined-Vehicle architecture. Through a seamless Controller Over-the-Air update, we are introducing an important new capability to eligible model variants without requiring customers to visit a workshop.”

At present, Hyundai Motor India offers the Bluelink connected car system across 11 of its 15 vehicle lines in the country, providing functions including emergency crash notifications, vehicle diagnostics, remote telemetry and voice command controls.

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Bosch Software and Digital Solutions (Bosch SDS) has entered into a collaboration with Dassault Systèmes in India, aimed at helping manufacturing enterprises accelerate digital transformation across product engineering, manufacturing operations and industrial value chains.

The partnership combines Dassault Systèmes’ capabilities in Virtual Twin Experiences, Product Lifecycle Management, Digital Manufacturing and Manufacturing Operations Management with Bosch SDS’ expertise in contextualised data products, manufacturing transformation, energy optimisation, IT/OT integration and machine-level intelligence. It also draws on both companies’ global industrial AI expertise. Early momentum has been demonstrated through an engagement with a leading Indian electric vehicle manufacturer, where Dassault Systèmes’ DELMIA Apriso MES platform and Bosch SDS’ manufacturing transformation capabilities are being deployed to enable intelligent, real-time connected operations, yielding improvements in production efficiency, quality and digital traceability.

Under the collaboration, the two organisations will jointly work across several identified areas. These include AI-enabled manufacturing transformation and Agentic AI orchestration through the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform; Digital Thread and traceability across engineering, manufacturing and lifecycle operations; contextualised data products and enterprise intelligence; energy management, sustainability transformation and an Energy Management Platform; smart factory, connected operations and IT/OT convergence with machine-level intelligence and Digital Product Passport and regulatory compliance readiness. Joint market engagement will extend into heavy engineering and process sectors, leveraging the complementary domain strength and technology depth of both organisations.

Bosch SDS will serve as a Consulting and System Integration partner to Dassault Systèmes across the identified transformation areas, spanning engineering, manufacturing and enterprise operations. Both organisations will jointly innovate and develop solutions to support customers in deploying end-to-end AI, Digital Thread and AI-enabled Digital Product Passports across product and manufacturing value chains.

Dattatreya Gaur, MD & CEO, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “Manufacturing enterprises today are looking beyond isolated digitisation initiatives towards connected, intelligent and autonomous operations. Our collaboration with Dassault Systèmes brings together two highly complementary strengths in Industrial AI: Bosch SDS’s deep expertise as a technology partner and practitioner across manufacturing, operational technology integration along with the Bosch Cognitive Factory platform, and Dassault Systèmes’ leadership in Virtual Twin Experience and Digital Thread capabilities. Together, we are uniquely positioned to help manufacturers accelerate AI-led transformation across the entire product and manufacturing value chain with greater speed, intelligence and scale.”

Ramesh Ramaswamy, Global Sales Head, Bosch Software and Digital Solutions, said, “The future of manufacturing will be defined by how seamlessly enterprises connect engineering, operations, data and AI across the value chain. Through this collaboration, Bosch SDS and Dassault Systèmes are bringing together complementary strengths to help manufacturers move from fragmented transformation efforts to truly connected, software-defined and intelligent operations. This creates a far stronger foundation for manufacturers to scale innovation, resilience and operational agility in the AI era.”

Deepak NG, Managing Director, India, Dassault Systèmes, said, "Our collaboration with Bosch SDS marks a major milestone for the manufacturing industry. By connecting our virtual twin technology with their industrial expertise, we are helping factories adopt AI much faster. This will create highly connected and sustainable operations. Together, we look forward to helping companies innovate and grow in the digital era.”

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Tata Motors and PETRONAS Lubricants India have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a collection and recycling program for used automotive lubricants.

The two companies will launch the pilot project simultaneously across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu to evaluate a scalable model for lubricant waste management.

The initiative creates a traceable system for collecting, storing and processing used lubricants through registered recycling channels, with the goal of converting collected waste into re-refined base oil.

Tata Motors will utilise its authorised service centre network to facilitate collection, while PETRONAS Lubricants India will oversee the logistics and transfer of used oil to certified re-refiners. The collaboration aligns with India's Extended Producer Responsibility regulations governing hazardous waste disposal.

Binu Chandy, India Managing Director at PETRONAS Lubricants India, said, "Achieving true circularity in used oil begins when re-refined base oil is reintegrated into finished lubricants. Our collaboration with Tata Motors marks an important step toward building a scalable model for used oil circularity and reflects the strength of our channel network as we work to significantly reduce our carbon footprint across operations."

Vikram Agrawal, Head of Spares and Non-Vehicle Business, Tata Motors, said, "At Tata Motors, practices and partnerships promoting sustainability are integral to advancing circular economy principles and creating meaningful environmental impact across the automotive value chain. Through our collaboration with PETRONAS Lubricants India, we are taking a significant step towards establishing a structured framework for the collection, recovery, and recycling of used automotive lubricants. This pilot initiative aligns closely with our commitment to responsible resource stewardship and supports India's broader sustainability ambitions. By bringing together the complementary strengths and expertise of our two organisations, we aim to assess the viability of a scalable used-oil recycling model that can drive long-term value and contribute to industry-wide progress."

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