In an effort to further the deployment of electric vehicles in the country, a 100 per cent owned subsidiary of EESL, Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), CPSE under Ministry of Power has entered into key partnerships on World Environment Day. Agreements and MoUs have been signed with state governments of Goa, and Kerala to procure over 30,000 two- and three-wheelers. This is the first entry to the 2W and 3W segments in the country, with solutions uniquely designed to deliver affordable financial solutions to buyers.

Under these agreements, CESL will also invest in establishing the electric vehicle charging infrastructure and monitor the use of the assets. This customer-oriented approach is designed to deliver good ease-of-use and better accessibility.

Additionally, CESL has entered in strategic relationships with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), TVS Motor Company, JBM Renewables Pvt Ltd., and Fortum India. Under these agreements, CESL and the private companies will jointly undertake the expansion and adoption of EV ecosystem. This will entail setting up of public charging infrastructure, better technological adoption in charging, explore best practices and business models as also the availability of potential customer segments for demand augmentation. These agreements will also include development of highway and expressway Charge Point Operators. Feasibility of park and charge facility to customers across all EV segments will also be explored as part of the project.

Mahua Acharya, MD & CEO, Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), said that mass adoption of EVs is an important step towards achieving India’s green growth goals and there is  no better day than today, World Environment Day, to announce EESL's  many collaborations.

TVS Motor Company will develop an expansive charging infrastructure, for TVS iQube Electric customers pan-India under this partnership. The two companies (TVS & CESL) aim to set up an ecosystem of charging solutions, enabling ease of adoption towards electric vehicles. Manu Saxena, Vice President-Future Mobility & Dealer Transformation, TVS Motor Company, said, “CESL is a significant initiative of the Government of India to make public charging infrastructure available to the citizens of India. On World Environment Day, TVS Motor takes pride in being the first 2-wheeler manufacturer to have a MoU with CESL. We will continue to contribute to India’s electric adoption, staying true to our brand purpose, TVS iQube CHARGE. LIFE. This year, TVS iQube Electric will be available in over 20 cities in India. In addition to its home charging options, it will be the TVS dealership charging network, and the emerging public charging ecosystem, with strong players like CESL that will accelerate India’s EV journey.”

Awadhesh Jha, Vice President, Fortum Charge and Drive India Pvt Ltd. said, “The adoption of e-mobility in India depends on the creation of an ubiquitous and robust charging infrastructure which will encourage consumers as well as automakers for greater participation. We are happy to see that there has been a significant growth in the demand for public EV charging infrastructure and the policy support extended by the Indian government to bolster the mass adoption of EVs in the country. This MoU is to develop jointly charging plaza in 4 million+ cities of India as well as support CESL in managing their network using Fortum’s capability as Network Service Provider (NSP) will definitely provide a paradigm shift towards the sale and growth of electric vehicles in the country.”

GSN Murthy, General Manager-Civilian Marketing, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) said that there is immense scope for growth in the electric mobility sector in India, in all its aspects especially in the charging infrastructure, battery recycling and reuse and adoption among the masses.

CESL is a newly established subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited, itself a joint venture of public sector companies under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. Convergence focuses on energy solutions that lie at the confluence of renewable energy, electric mobility, and climate change.

It builds upon the decentralised solar development experience in under-served rural communities in India, and over time, using battery energy storage, will deliver renewable energy solutions to power agricultural pumps, street lighting, domestic lighting, and cooking appliances in villages. CESL is working to enable battery powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India.