EV Penetration Hits Nearly 10% - Testing Infrastructure Gets Rs 776 Crore

At the PM E-DRIVE industry dialogue on 25 September 2026, the Centre sanctioned Rs 776.29 crore to upgrade four national automotive testing agencies - ICAT, ARAI, GARC and NATRAX - for EV, battery and clean-technology work, as electric two-wheeler penetration reached 9.9% in April-August FY27. Adoption is rising, but testing capacity is the qualification gate that decides how fast domestic batteries and power electronics can be certified and scaled.