CHENNAI: The electric vehicle segment has been assured a considerable market going forward, with state-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) floating one of the largest tenders in the segment. According to the tender, EESL will procure a whopping 10,000 electric cars and 4,000 chargers, which will be for the ministries of coal, mines, power and new & renewable energy. These will be procured under the FAME (faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India) scheme introduced by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy earlier.
The tender will see EESL procure 'slow chargers' which have a power output equivalent to 3,000 AC (alternate current) and 1,000 'fast chargers' with a power output of 1,000 DC (direct current) compatible with Bharat AC-001 and DC-001 charger specification norms. The cars procured will also be put on rent to other departments across various ministries. According to analysts and industry players, the tender will open up a rather large market for electric car makers and will also help push the government’s ambitious plan to electrify all vehicles in India by 2030.
“Only electric cars by 2030, existing cars may take a little longer to replace. But the government is working on a framework to see what we can do on promoting electric vehicle. Niti Aayog is currently tasked with preparing futuristic vision for electric vehicles,” Piyush Goyal, minister for power, coal, mine, new & renewable energy had said earlier.
According to sources, the cars will be of the sedan-type and the tender will be in two phases. The first phase will see EESL procuring 1,000 vehicles for use in government offices in the New Delhi region. The company has also tried to widen the scope of the tender by making it international. Electric sedans are made by a single manufacturer in India and the Mahindra Verito costs as much as `13 lakh. Bids for the first phase of procurement will close by the end of October 2017, and the rest of the cars will be procured later.