Piaggio, Mahindra, 19 others in the fray for Rs 3,000-crore  EV  tender

• Follow

Piaggio India, Mahindra Electric Mobility, and Kinetic Green Energy and Power Solutions are among the companies that have bid for supplying electric three-wheelers (E3W) as part of an estimated Rs 3,000-crore, 100,000-vehicle tender.

The state-run Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) have received bids seven times the intended purchase plan from 21 organisations, including eight small and medium enterprises and startups, the Mint has reported. The technical review of the bids is being conducted by CESL, and the pricing bids are scheduled to be opened this week, the report said, quoting the people aware of the development.

“Many of these bids are collaborative efforts, with companies forming consortiums,” it said.

Half of the electric vehicles will be leased and the rest will be sold through the company’s digital platform. Manufacturers were asked to submit quotes for electric three-wheelers for rubbish collection, commodities delivery, food and vaccine transport and passenger vehicles in response to a request for proposals.

EV Tender

The Mint quoted Sulajja Firodia Motwani, founder and chief executive officer, Kinetic Green, as saying that her company has the wherewithal such as the production capacity and supply chain to fulfill the orders as per the CESL requirements.

According to the news report, Mahindra Electric Mobility has put in a bid for a few categories.

The report further said that CESL is already in talks with potential investors with the aim of growing the leasing business.

CESL, a subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), aims to have 200,000 two-wheeled electric vehicles (EVs) and 300,000 three-wheeled EVs across India, with the government awarding CESL’s parent company EESL the demand aggregation of electric three-wheeler and electric bus components under the Rs 10,000 crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (Fame) scheme.

Cities that want to switch their garbage collection fleet to electric or introduce a cleaner and less expensive fleet are included in this tender, the report said, adding that the demand for cars that will be utilised to offer jobs and administer vaccines makes up a large element of this tender.

The first phase of the Fame scheme began on April 1, 2015, and was prolonged through March 31, 2019, while the second phase (Fame-2) began on April 1, 2019, and was supposed to finish on March 31, 2022, but was extended until March 20, 2024. 500,000 electric three-wheelers, 1 million electric two-wheelers, 55,000 electric passenger vehicles, and 7,090 electric buses will be subsidised with funds from Fame-2.

CESL has been accumulating demand for leasing out and operating three-wheeled EVs for the garbage collection fleet of municipalities across the country, including for Pune Municipal Corporation, in addition to selling electric two-wheelers to states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Goa.

CESL is also in talks with Swachh Andhra to hire 15,000 more waste collectors. Through the Fame system, state government subsidies, EV maker assistance, and carbon credits, the firm hopes to cut the cost of ownership in half.