EESL To Buy 20,000 Electric Vehicles By March 2019; Invest Rs. 2,400 Crore

State-run Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) has announced its plan to acquire close to 20,000 electric vehicles for government use with an investment of Rs. 2,400 crore. The order will see the government acquiring these EVs by March, 2019. Last month, the Ministry of Power launched the National E-Mobility Programme In India, which aims to provide a push to the e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure, companies, fleet operators, service providers etc.

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Saurabh Kumar, MD, EESL India told PTI, "We have got a good response for this project. Already 100 electric vehicles are operational in Delhi. In total, we will be procuring 20,000 electric vehicles by March 2019 and we are investing around Rs 2,400 crore for buying them."

Also Read: EESL To Invest Over Rs. 10,000 Crore In Andhra Pradesh; Produce 1 Lakh Electric Vehicles

Last month, EESL issued a fresh tender for 10,000 e-vehicles which will cater to the growing demand in various government departments. According to EESL, these electric vehicles in India is expected to save over Rs. 5 crore litres of fuel every year, leading to reduction of over 5.6 lakh tonnes of CO2 emissions. Moreover, EESL already has in place charging infrastructure at 150 government offices which will be able to charge 500 cars at a time.

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EESL has also agreed to invest close to Rs. 10,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh and has pledged to manufacture over 1 lakh electric vehicles over the next 5 years. This includes 4,000 electric chargers for various departments in the state. The move will see employment to over 1.05 lakh persons in state.