India Offers Its Unused Electric Vehicles to Taxi Fleets
Taxi companies would also be able to use Energy Efficiency Services Ltd’s charging network as part of the offer.
(Bloomberg) -- India’s Energy Efficiency Services Ltd., responsible for replacing the state’s vehicles with new-energy cars, is seeking to lease electric vehicles to cab companies amid delays integrating them into government fleets.
EESL has made offers to lease EVs to Ola Cabs, a Softbank Group Corp.-backed ride-hailing service, and Indian taxi firm Meru Cabs, and plans to reach out as well to Uber Technologies Inc., according to Managing Director Saurabh Kumar. EESL already signed an agreement earlier this month with electric taxi startup Blu-Smart Mobility for 500 electric cars, he said.
The taxi companies would also be able to use the agency’s charging network. It’s planning to set up 100 charging stations each in 10 cities by March, Kumar said in an interview.
EESL awarded its first tender in September 2017 for 10,000 cars to electrify the government’s fossil-fuel driven fleet. However, only 1,000 cars are on the roads as the state procurement process has been slow. That tender had been awarded to automakers Tata Motors Ltd. and Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd.
“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.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Anindya Upadhyay in New Delhi at aupadhyay22@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net, Alpana Sarma
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