Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) is looking to lease “unused” electric vehicles (EVs) to cab companies in India, as per a report by
Bloomberg. EESL, a joint venture of Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Power, is responsible for replacing the country’s vehicles with EVs. There have been delays in integrating EVs into the government fleet, as per the procurement plan laid down in 2017. Therefore, this unused fleet is being offered under lease agreements.
EESL has made offers to ANI-developed Ola Cabs and Indian taxi firm Meru cabs. There are plans to reach out to American transportation company, Uber, in India, as per Saurabh Kumar – the Managing Director of EESL.
EESL already has signed an agreement with electric mobility startup – Blu-Smart mobility – for 500 EVs, Kumar added in the report.
In order to develop the charging infrastructure for EVs, the agency plans to set up 100 charging stations each in 10 cities by March 2020, he added. The lessee taxi companies will be able to use this charging network.
As per the world’s largest single EV-procurement tender floated in September 2017, 10,000 cars were to replace the government’s conventional energy car fleet. The state has only procured 1,000 cars from that lot.
"We haven’t met the expectations we had earlier, but from an ecosystem perspective this tender triggered building of infrastructure," Kumar said. "I am more than satisfied with it."
Leading manufacturers including Tata Motors Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Nissan participated in the government tender. The bids for TATA Motors Limited and Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) were opened as per the release, with Tata quoting the lowest price of Rs. 10.16 Lakh (exclusive of GST). Also, as per the original procurement plan, EESL also has to identify a service provider agency and act as a supervisor in the entire chain.
Niti Aayog estimated in its report that EV fleet would be able to cut country’s energy demand by 64 percent and carbon emissions by 37 percent by 2030.
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