Lubricant maker Gulf Oil India Ltd is planning to invest ₹50 crore to nearly double capacity at its Ahmedabad electric vehicle (EV) charger manufacturing facility to around 3,000 DC fast chargers from 1,800, according to managing director and chief executive Ravi Chawla. As reported by Mint, the expansion will target doubling manufacturing capacity at the new plant in Ahmedabad, with the company currently having capacity to make close to 1,500-2,000 chargers. The Ahmedabad plant was designed to allow gradual further scaling up of production.
Through its stake in Tirex Transmission Pvt. Ltd, Gulf Oil currently holds roughly 40% of India's DC fast-charger market, with India having 67,657 public EV chargers according to state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL). According to BHEL's dashboard, only 534 chargers (0.7%) have capacity of 121-240 kilowatts, while just nine chargers (0.01%) have capacity above 240kW. The company estimates India's EV charger market will be worth about ₹4,000 crore over the next four years and aims to capture a 10% share.
Gulf Oil first invested ₹103 crore in FY24 to acquire a controlling 51% stake in Tirex Transmission, followed by another ₹38 crore investment in FY26 that raised its stake to 65.18%. According to Chawla, the company estimates India's EV charger market will be worth about ₹4,000 crore over the next four years, with AC and DC charger markets expected to account for ₹2,000 crore each. Tirex Transmission's revenue has risen from ₹79 crore in FY25 to over ₹100 crore in FY26.
The expansion comes as India's e-bus market gains momentum, with the world's third-largest e-bus market recording sales of 5,356 units in 2025-26, up 37% year-on-year. In FY26, India recorded sales of 2.55 million EVs, 25% higher than the previous fiscal year, taking EV adoption to 8.5% from 7.7%, according to the government's VAHAN registry. According to Amit Bhatt, India managing director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, further investments in charging infrastructure will support the rollout of electric bus and truck chargers, assisting in localising the value chain gradually.
While aiming to increase localization and domestic value addition to 70% from the current 55%, Gulf Oil is currently importing some Chinese components for EV chargers due to cost-competitive manufacturing scale. As reported by Chawla, the company is importing adapters and power electronics from China, but plans to localize these components once India achieves certain scale. The company is also aiming to export Tirex-made chargers, with India potentially developing capacities to build localized EV chargers and export them, backed by product certifications.
