GreenCell Bags First Electric Bus Contract From RSRTC

The first electric bus contract from Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) has been bagged by GreenCell Mobility Private Limited.  This contract is awarded under the Government of India’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme for procurement of inter-city electric buses.

According to GreenCell, the buses in this case will travel 600 km per day, the highest for any electric bus in the country. The 43-seater state of the art buses will be equipped with advanced features such as automatic transmission, electronically controlled air suspension, smart air filtration system, anti-lock disc braking system (ABS) and connected features including GPS, Wi-Fi, CCTV.

For the Eversource Capital promoted GreenCell Mobility, set up as an an eMaaS platform ( electric mobility as service) for India, this is the first state contract bagged by the firm. The objective is to establish a green travel tourist circuit between various cities in Rajasthan including Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, while also connecting them to Delhi and Agra. The Delhi-Jaiur- Agra circuit is widely known as the golden triangle, in the tourism trade.

Ashok Agarwal, MD and CEO, GreenCell Mobility

On the announcement, Ashok Agarwal, MD & CEO, GreenCell Mobility commented “ We are delighted to partner with RSRTC as their first electric bus service provider. This is a significant milestone towards sustainable development and zero tail pipe emissions. This contract also marks as the first stepping stone as we begin our journey of becoming India’s leading eMaaS platform. ”

The buses will be manufactured and supplied by Mozev (Mytrah Mobility), the OEM partner of GreenCell Mobility, from its plant located in Jaipur. The electric powertrain with a motor capacity of 245kW and torque of 3300Nm will provide superior on-road performance and will be powered by advanced Li-ion re-chargeable batteries.

Ankit Singhvi, Co-founder and MD, Mozev (Mytrah Mobility) said “ These buses will travel for 600 km per day which is highest for any electric bus in the country. To enable this, Mozev will also install chargers at the depot and fast chargers at intermediate points and provide a single platform to manage operations and track performance through its proprietary technology platform, Saathi.

EverSource Capital, the fund manager of Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) which has incubated GreenCell Mobility, was recently in the news for the investment by global energy major, bp, into the fund.  With a commitment of $70 million, bp will, upon investment later this year, become a limited partner in GGEF. The fund’s other backers include the Government of India, through the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and the UK Government, through the Department for International Development (DfID). It expects to reach about $700 million commitment at final close and grow further through leveraged capital options.

EverSource Capital itself is a 50:50 joint venture between Everstone Group, a premier investment group focused on India and South East Asia, and Lightsource bp, a global leader in development and management of solar energy projects.