Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), the newly formed energy transition company, under the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is planning to buy about 60,000 – 70,000 units of electric two-wheelers for different state governments. The number is on the conservative side, and could increase said Mahua Acharya, Managing Director & CEO, CESL while addressing said the Electric Two-Wheeler (e2W) Summit 2021 organised by Mobility Outlook.
Acharya said CESL is working with different state governments to understand their requirements. The company recently partnered with the Andhra Pradesh government to supply 25,000 e2Ws. “Although the initial demand was 400,000 e2Ws, I was very pessimistic about it but later we decided to supply the first 25,000 units,” she said.
With more state governments announcing state-specific EV policies, Acharya is confident the numbers would grow over time. CESL has also signed a contract with the Kerala government and are waiting for the Goa EV policy to get cleared.
“As a government company, we are trying to build the demand on one side but we are also looking to partner with different new age start-ups in different domains such as connectivity, batteries, charging infrastructure and fleet operators to create newer models and make e2Ws an affordable mode of transportation,” said Acharya.
She also appealed to the industry stakeholders and start-ups to come forward and talk to CESL about how they can help create an ecosystem for e2Ws, so they can reach the rural towns and villages of India.
Two-wheelers are the most feasible form factor to start an electric revolution, she said. Adding that for other segments, we would need to wait for infrastructure to be developed, Acharya said the e2W segment has very few barriers to start-off. It is important to work backwards to make e2Ws affordable, she said.
Meanwhile, the last day of the Electric Two-Wheeler Summit featured a panel discussion on the go-to-market strategy for EV retail in India, alongside a technical session on batteries and motors.
The event also had a virtual exhibition participated by ten companies – Ampere, Ansys, Ather, Bgauss, ETAS, HBK, Lucas TVS, Okinawa, Pure EV and Saietta VNA.