NEW DELHI: The government plans to soon float bulk tenders to buy electric-powered three-wheelers and rickshaws, for which it expects to get bids from manufacturers such as Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, TVS and Piaggio Ape. The idea is to bring in state-run firms including NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and Power Grid Corporation to set up battery swap shops for the vehicles, officials said. 

The tenders are likely to be followed by large procurement contracts for city buses for states transport departments, which are expected to attract four companies, they said. The tenders for electric threewheelers will be on the lines of the government’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (Ujala) scheme, under which LED lamps are procured in large numbers through competitive bidding and distributed through an agency. 

The mass procurement helps cut down costs. Prices of LED lamps under the scheme and in the open market have plunged more than 80% from Rs 310 apiece in 2014. 

Tata Motors won a recently concluded electric car tender floated by Energy Efficient Services Ltd (EESL) to supply 10,000 electric sedans to four ministries in the central government at a price of Rs 11.2 lakh per vehicle. The discovered price is about 25% less than the market cost of a similar car. A senior government official said the Centre plans to assess demand for electric three-wheelers and erickshaws and bring out a large tender through a nodal agency. “The size and the agency have not been decided yet.

The aim is to help lower the prices of electric vehicles through economies of scale and easy absorption of the battery vehicles in the Indian fleet,” he said. The government has an ambitious plan to replace diesel and petrol vehicles to shift to an all-electric fleet by 2030, to reduce fuel import bill, running cost of vehicles and carbon footprint. 

The tenders for e-buses will be floated after aggregating demand from transport departments in states, the official said. EThad earlier reported that the government was considering promotion of two-wheelers, three-wheelers and city buses without batteries to cut acquisition costs. Batteries can be leased at a specified cost and can be swapped with recharged ones at charging stations. Indian Oil Corporation, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and BHELBSE 1.38 % are being considered to boost the number of electric vehicle charging stations, battery swap stations and manufacture of lithium-ion batteries.