New Delhi (NVI): With the Delhi Government’s announcement to replace its all petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles with electric ones within next six months, Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has taken the lead in announcing its support to the government’s switch to EVs.
The Arvind Kejriwal government, in an order yesterday, has mandated all its departments, autonomous bodies, and grantee institutions to shift their existing fleet of hired conventional fuel vehicles to electric variants within 6 months.
As per the ‘Delhi EV Policy 2020’, all departments of the Government of NCT of Delhi will have to shift their existing hired petrol/diesel/CNG vehicles to electric vehicles via lease model through Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal or through Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
CESL is a registered body on the e-Marketplace, and provides with ecosystem based services to enable such a system based conversion, EESL said in a statement.
Welcoming the announcement, Mahua Acharya, CEO & MD, CESL, said, “It is admirable to see Delhi government take a leadership role in accelerating the adoption of electric mobility. Taking a system wide approach is also exactly the way this should be done – and the Delhi Government has indeed gone this way. This shift will do a lot for residents of the NCT area too, addressing air and noise pollution whilst simultaneously signalling to the market its seriousness around electric mobility”.
Saurabh Kumar, Executive Vice Chairperson, EESL Group of Companies, said, “Delhi government’s decision to commit to EVs will go a long way in accelerating EV adoption and in encouraging other states to follow. We are committed towards enabling the entire ecosystem of electric mobility and, through CESL, we are designing business models to help expedite the transition. We look forward to more such positive interventions in the sector.”
The adoption of electric vehicles in India is being encouraged by the Government with a target to reach 30 per cent by 2030. As per the Government of India (GoI) statistics, 70 percent of all commercial cars, 30 percent of private cars, 40 percent of buses, and 80 percent of two-wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) sales will convert to their electric variants, EESL said.
In support of this policy goal, the GoI has taken several steps to incentivise 2 and 3-wheeler EVs, shared mobility and public transport by offering capital subsidies and tax incentives. As per the Union Budget 2021, Rs. 1,000 crore has been allocated to provide up to 70per cent capital subsidy for public charging stations (PCS). The Government has also clarified that setting up of PCS and charging EVs is a “delicensed” activity – an important step towards unleashing private enterprise and innovation. Special tariffs have also been issued by many states. Delhi has a target of 25 per cent EVs for all new vehicle registrations by 2024, as per the EESL statement.
Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is a newly established 100 per cent subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited, which has taken the lead in electric mobility by deploying 1,500 electric vehicles and over 1000 charging stations. With the help of the national government subsidy, the aim is to reach 10,000 charging stations in three years. CESL will take this effort to the next level by rolling out innovative clean energy-based transport solutions as a whole, not just electric cars.
CESL will invest in solutions that lie at the confluence of renewable energy, electric mobility, and climate change. CESL will work to enable battery powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India, EESL said.
-ARK
