EESL to partner with Andhra Pradesh government for churning out 1 lakh e-vehicles in five years

VIJAYAWADA: Aiming at partnering with the state government for introduction of electric vehicles in Andhra Pradesh, the Energy Efficiency Service Ltd (EESL), a joint venture of PSUs under the Ministry of Power, has agreed in principle to invest `10,250 crore in the state. As part of the initiative, the EESL will work towards manufacture of one lakh electric vehicles in the next five years at an operational cost of `2,000 crore per year.

According to a press release here on Sunday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu held a tele-conference with officials of the energy department who informed him of the EESL’s decision. The officials told the CM that the EESL’s investment would create employment opportunities of 1.05 lakh people.

The CM directed the officials to prepare a comprehensive action plan to introduce one lakh e-vehicles in a phased manner. “All government departments should go for e-vehicles. The effort can be later emulated by the private sector. We should create a world record even in use of e-vehicles,” he said.

Principal Secretary (Energy), Ajay Jain, informed the CM that a meeting with e-vehicle manufacturers, battery manufacturers, technology providers and public sector departments would be conducted in the third week of March to discuss the vehicle rollout plan. He said the e-vehicle policy will also be finalised soon.
Ajay Jain further explained that after implementation of the project, the state would benefit both in terms of revenue and checking environmental pollution.

Ministers K Kala Venkata Rao and Atchannaidu and chief secretary Dinesh Kumar also participated in the tele-conference.

Cost-effective, green mode of transport
Energy deprt claims that one lakh e-vehicles, once rolled out, are expected to reduce  `5k crore burden on the state exchequer
e-vehicle
Average electricity consumption per vehicle: 0.1265 kWh/km
Electricity cost:
`7/kWh
Average cost per km: `0.89
Conventional vehicle
Average fuel consumption per vehicle: 15 km/litre
Average fuel cost: `66 per litre
Average cost per km: `4.4