Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, on May 31, 2018, signed an MoU with the General Administration Department (GAD), Government of Maharashtra to lease out electric vehicles and install EV chargers in state government offices. The vehicles would be provided under the Government of Maharashtra’s Electric Vehicle and Related Infrastructure Policy – 2018.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra; Dr Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Diwakar Raote, Minister for Transport, Government of Maharashtra; Erik Solheim; Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme and Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL.
Marking the commencement of e-mobility era in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis flagged off the first set of 20 EVs at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
EESL to lease out electric vehicles, and install chargers in Maharashtra government offices
The Government of Maharashtra announced its Electric Vehicle and Related Infrastructure Policy – 2018 with a vision to establish the state as a globally competitive destination for electric vehicles and component manufacturing while simultaneously promoting their wide-spread adoption. The MoU between EESL and Maharashtra will support the state government’s vision of generating investment worth Rs.25,000 crore in EV and component manufacturing, assembly enterprises and charging equipment manufacturing. The policy also entails increasing the number of registered EVs in the state to 5 lakh and creation of one lakh jobs.
Earlier this year, the Government of India launched the National E-Mobility Programme to provide an impetus to the entire e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc. EESL is aggregating demand by procuring electric vehicles in bulk to leverage economies of scale. These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles of the Central and state governments.
EESL plans to leverage efficiencies of scale and drive down costs through its innovative business model while supporting local manufacturing facilities, gaining technical competencies for the long-term growth of the EV industry and enabling Indian EV manufacturers to emerge as major global players, a release from EESL said.
Caption: The first set of 20 EVs was flagged off at the historic Gateway of India in Mumbai.
