VIJAYAWADA: With a host of new electric two-wheelers hitting the market and several more in the pipeline, the New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) has invited another round of expression of interest (EOI) for the supply of low speed electric bikes for the government employees’ scheme.
The portal for booking the e-vehicles will be launched in the coming weeks and the interested government employees can directly reserve the vehicle on EMI basis, the officials added.NREDCAP had previously invited EOI and 11 companies evinced interest to supply e-bikes. The State has targeted to be a facilitator for supply of 1 lakh electric two-wheelers to the interested government employees. However, it is learnt, out of the 11 companies, only two or three were ready to immediately provide the e-bikes in large numbers as required by the State.
“Since, only a few companies were ready to meet our requirement and with new models of e-bikes entering the market, we invited EOI. This will be a continuous process to meet our requirements and get the best deals,” a senior official said. The latest EOI was floated on Wednesday.According to internal surveys, 5,000-10,000 government employees are ready to immediately opt for the scheme and the officials expect the number to rise significantly in the coming days with new models coming in.
A website and a mobile application for booking the e-bikes will be launched soon once the financial aspects and other modalities with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) are cleared, according to vice chairman and managing director of NREDCAP S Ramana Reddy. NREDCAP is the nodal agency for implementation of e-mobility policy and is facilitating the supply of the vehicles for government employees.
Meanwhile, the corporation is also in the process of inking a Memorandum of Understanding with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) for establishing fast charging stations for four-wheelers at the petrol pumps across the state. NREDCAP’s VC and MD Ramana Reddy is reviewing the draft document and the MoU is likely to be signed in the second week of September. NREDCAP will also hold talks with other oil companies such as HPCL and BPCL. As per the plan, the petrol pumps will provide space for establishment of a charging station for a price and NREDCAP will facilitate the installation of fast-charging infrastructure by private players.