EESL To Procure 20,000 EVs By March 2019

State-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited has announced it will invest around Rs 24 billion for 20,000 electric vehicles by March next year. The company is also likely to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with the Maharashtra and Gujarat state governments for the supply of 1,000 and 8,000 electric vehicles, said a company official.

This could mean that the cars EESL are likely to procure are 1,000 units of the eVerito from Mahindra’s plant in Nashik, Maharasthra and 8,000 Tiago/Tigor EVs from Tata’s plant in Sanand, Gujarat.

“We have got a good response for this project. Already, 100 electric vehicles are operational in Delhi. In total, we will be procuring 20,000 electric vehicles by March 2019 and we are investing around Rs 24 billion for buying them,” said EESL’s managaing director Saurabh Kumar.

Last year, the company floated a global tender for 10,000 electric vehicles that could replace the government’s fleet of cars running on internal combustion engines and in line with its vision to switch to electric mobility by 2030. That tender was won by Mahindra and Tata, with the latter bagging more orders.

The 20,000 vehicles EESL expects to procure by March 2019, the company says, will help it save over 50 million litres of fuel every year. It will also lead to a reduction of over 5.6 lakh tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emission. EESL is currently chalking out the plan for setting up charging stations across the country.