Bulk tenders for electric rickshaws to be floated soon: Report
The government is expecting bids to come from top auto players like Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra, TVS and Piaggio Ape.
Moneycontrol News
The government plans to float bulk tenders to buy electric-powered three-wheelers and rickshaws soon. The government is expecting bids to come from top auto players like Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Mahindra, TVS and Piaggio Ape, the Economic Times reported.
The main idea is to get the state-run firms such as NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation, Power Grid Corporation together to set up the battery swap shops, the report said.
Schemes like this help cut down costs. For instance, under the Unnat Jyoti, prices of LED lamps fell nearly 80 percent in 2014.
The Centre is planning to first assess the demand for electric three-wheelers and e-rickshaws. Then, it will release a tender through a nodal agency, a senior official told ET.
“The size and the agency have not been decided yet. The aim is to help lower the prices of electric vehicles through economies of scale and easy absorption of the battery vehicles in the Indian fleet,” he said.
The tender could be followed by large procurement contracts for city buses for states transport departments, which are expected to attract four companies, the officials said further.
The tenders for e-buses would be floated after aggregating demand from transport departments in states, the report said.
The move falls in the government's ambitious plans to replace diesel and petrol vehicles with electric vehicles by 2030.
