India is emerging as one of the fastest-growing electric car markets globally, with electric vehicle sales accelerating sharply in the first half of 2026. According to the International Energy Agency’s Electric Car Markets in a Time of Uncertainty report, electric car sales in India increased more than 90 percent in H1 2026, placing the country among the strongest-performing sizeable EV markets worldwide.
India has recorded more than 100,000 electric car sales during the first six months of 2026. The pace accelerated further following the onset of the energy crisis: between March and June 2026, EV sales in India roughly doubled compared with the corresponding four months of 2025. Australia, Brazil, Korea and Viet Nam also joined India among markets exceeding 100,000 EV sales in H1, IEA report said.
The performance is particularly significant because the global EV market had a much weaker start to the year. Worldwide electric car sales were around 1 percent lower in H1 2026, primarily because of an almost 20 percent contraction in China. India therefore significantly outperformed the global market.
The IEA said strong momentum in emerging electric car markets, including India, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, contributed to an upward revision of its global EV outlook. Worldwide EV sales are now forecast to increase around 10 percent to 23 million vehicles in 2026, representing 29 percent of total global car sales.
India is also becoming strategically important to global automakers because of the scale of its wider passenger-car market. The IEA data show that India recorded around 4.5 million new-car sales in 2025, putting it among the world’s major automotive markets. Yet the structure of India’s EV market differs considerably from its traditional vehicle industry.
Japanese automakers have an especially strong position in India’s conventional vehicle business, accounting for approximately 50 percent of internal combustion engine car sales. Their presence in India’s electric car segment, however, remains negligible. This creates an opening for domestic EV manufacturers as well as Chinese and other international EV companies as electrification accelerates.
Domestic manufacturers already hold a significant share of India’s EV market, according to the IEA. Chinese automakers are also expanding their presence in India, part of a wider international push that has enabled Chinese OEMs to capture substantial shares of EV markets across emerging economies.
This competitive shift could become increasingly important because China and other emerging and developing economies are projected to represent almost 60 percent of global car sales by 2035. India, with its large existing automotive market and EV sales growth exceeding 90 percent in H1 2026, is positioned to become an increasingly important battleground for electric vehicle manufacturers.
The rapid expansion of India’s EV market also has implications beyond vehicle sales. EV manufacturing shifts automotive value toward batteries, electronics, semiconductors, software and critical minerals. Globally, the battery alone represents around one-quarter of an electric car’s value, while EV-specific components accounted for 10 percent of the automotive supplier market in 2024, a share that had increased nearly sevenfold since 2019.
For India, developing local EV and battery manufacturing capacity could therefore determine how much economic value the country captures as vehicle electrification accelerates. The IEA notes that supply-chain localisation and the development of domestic EV manufacturing ecosystems will be important for employment and industrial competitiveness.
India’s combination of a 4.5 million-unit passenger-car market, more than 100,000 electric cars sold in H1 2026 and EV sales growth exceeding 90 percent indicates that electrification is moving beyond a small niche. If the recent growth trajectory continues, India’s EV industry could become an increasingly significant part of both the domestic automotive sector and the broader global shift toward electric mobility.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
