EESL aims to procure 20,000 EVs by March 2019

The state-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) plans to invest around Rs 2,400 crore to procure 20,000 electric vehicles for government use by March 2019, a senior company official has said. The company is also likely to sign memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with the governments of Maharashtra and Gujarat this month to supply 1,000 and 8,000 electric vehicles, respectively.

"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 2,400 crore for buying them," EESL managing director Saurabh Kumar told PTI yesterday.

With these 20,000 electric cars, EESL expects to save over 5 crore litres of fuel every year, leading to a reduction of over 5,60,000 tonnes of annual carbon dioxide emission.

The company had first floated a tender for 10,000 EVs last year for use in the government's fleet in an effort to promote clean energy. The tender, which would see 500 vehicles procured in phase one and the rest in the second phase, was won by Tata Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra later matched the winning bid price.

Mahindra Electric delivered the first set of its e-Verito sedans to EESL on November 15, 2017, while Tata Motors delivered the first batch of Tigor electric sedans to EESL on December 14, 2017.

Last month, EESL floated another tender for 10,000 electric vehicles and is hoping for wider participation from automakers this time around.

Floats tender for 2,500 charging stations

EESL has also rolled out the plan for setting up charging stations across the country. "We have already laid down 250 charging stations in Delhi and a tender has been floated to set up an additional 2,500 stations across the country," said Kumar.

EESL is a joint venture of four other public sector units including NTPC, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation and PowerGrid Corporation.