Tata Motors bags Rs 1,120 crore order for 10k e-cars from EESL

New Delhi: State-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) on Friday said it will procure 10,000 electric cars from Tata Motors, an order valued at around Rs 1,120 crore.

Tata Motors will supply the electric vehicles (EVs) in two phases with 500 e-cars in the first phase in November 2017 and the remaining 9,500 electric vehicles (EVs) in the second phase, EESL said in a statement.

EESL said Tata Motors quoted the lowest price of Rs 10.16 lakh, exclusive of GST in the competitive bidding. "The vehicle will be provided for Rs 11.2 lakh, which will be inclusive of GST and comprehensive 5 year warranty which is 25 per cent below the current retail price of a similar e-car with 3 year warranty," it added.

"All these 10,000 electric cars will be will be procured within nine months period from the date of issue of letter of intent," EESL Managing Director Saurabh Kumar told PTI.

These electric cars are meant for usage by ministries and government departments, either through direct purchase from EESL or lease, he added.
Tata Motors was selected through an international competitive bidding aimed at increased participation, it said.

Commenting on the development, Tata Motors CEO and MD Guenter Butschek said: "EESL tender provided us the opportunity to participate in boosting e-mobility in the country, at the same time accelerate our efforts to offer full range of electric vehicles to the Indian consumers."

The company has been collaboratively working to develop electric powertrain technology for its selected products, he added. While it did not specify which electric car it will supply, industry sources said the company will supply electric
version of its compact sedan Tigor.

Other companies, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) and Nissan had also participated in the tender and bids for Tata Motors and M&M were opened, EESL said. When asked why Nissan's bid was not opened, Kumar said: "It did not qualify for the technical bid or request for qualification (RFQ).

EESL claimed that its tender was for the world's largest single electric vehicle procurement. The company, which comes under the Ministry of Power, further said along with procurement of 10,000 EVs through bidding, it would also identify a service provider agency.

"This agency, also appointed through competitive bidding, will carry out end-to-end fleet management of the procured vehicles for the concerned government customer," the statement added.

Apart from continuing to aggregate demand, EESL will also be responsible such as coordination between appointed agencies, monitoring and supervision, reporting, complaint redressal and payments, it said.

Citing a Niti Aayog report, EESL said making India's passenger mobility shared, electric, and connected can cut the country's energy demand by 64 per cent and carbon emissions by 37 per cent in 2030.

"This would result in a reduction of 156 Mtoe (million tonne oil equivalent) in diesel and petrol consumption for that year & at USD 52/bbl of crude, this would imply a net savings of roughly Rs 3.9 lakh crore in 2030," the company said.