In the Image (L to R): Ms. Priya Pansare, Senior Director – Trade, Investment & International Relations, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai; Ms. Mahua Acharya, Founder & CEO, INTENT; Shri Bipin Shrimali, IAS, Managing Director, MAHAPREIT being felicitated by Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries.
“Maharashtra has the opportunity to take a leadership position in the transition towards electric road freight. With its strong industrial and logistics base, the State is well placed to create commercially viable models that can enable industry to adopt electric trucks at scale. The focus must now be on building an ecosystem that brings together cargo owners, fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers, financial institutions, energy providers and infrastructure developers, while ensuring that the transition is technically feasible, financially bankable and commercially attractive,” said Shri Bipin Shrimali, IAS, Managing Director, MAHAPREIT, at the Round Table on “Accelerating the Transition to Electric Road Freight in Maharashtra”, organised by MAHAPREIT (Mahatma Phule Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Technology Limited) and INTENT at MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai.
Mr. Shrimali further added, “The electric-trucking ecosystem currently faces a “chicken-and-egg” challenge, with users seeking adequate charging infrastructure before committing to vehicles, while infrastructure developers require sufficient demand to justify investment. For example, MAHAPREIT, given its pan India mandate, is developing 64 large EV charging stations with NHAI enabling right-of-way access for the first time. We are also exploring green freight corridors to aggregate demand from ports, fertiliser companies, mining operations and other freight-intensive sectors”.
Ms. Mahua Acharya, Founder & CEO, INTENT, said, “India has approximately 4 million registered trucks, while fewer than 1,000 are electric, this highlights the scale of the opportunity before us. Transport contributes about 10% of India’s overall emissions, with road transport accounting for the dominant share. While the policy environment and incentives are increasingly favourable, electric trucking must ultimately make strong commercial sense through lower total cost of ownership, assured freight demand, viable financing and adequate charging infrastructure. Demand aggregation can help make the transition bankable, sector by sector and corridor by corridor.”
Dr. Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries, in his remarks said, “As India moves towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, our logistics system must become more efficient, sustainable and globally competitive. In comparison to China which has a sale of nearly 400 thousand electric truck sales, India had a sale of mere 1000 units. With India importing close to 90% of its crude-oil requirement, electrification of freight is closely linked with energy security, logistics costs and competitiveness. The transition will require a complete ecosystem from raw-material and vehicle manufacturing to charging infrastructure, electric freight corridors, port connectivity and supporting logistics infrastructure.”
“Maharashtra is well placed to lead this transition with its major ports, industrial clusters and automotive ecosystem. Along with infrastructure, we must focus on talent mobilisation, skilling, financing and support for small and medium fleet operators so that the transition is commercially viable and scalable. The real success will come when electric trucking becomes not only the greener option, but also the better business option,” added Dr. Kalantri.
The structured discussion brought together senior representatives from NABARD and leading freight-intensive industries, including Tata Steel, along with stakeholders from the cement, chemicals, fertilisers, pulp and paper, and tyre sectors. Participants exchanged perspectives on their readiness, procurement plans and key barriers to electric-truck adoption, while exploring commercial trials, partnerships, financing mechanisms and expressions of interest to aggregate demand and develop scalable, commercially sustainable electric road freight models for Maharashtra, contributing to India’s broader goals of energy security, economic growth and decarbonisation.