Amazon India, Gentari partner to extend EVs deployment

E-commerce giant Amazon India has announced an extension of its partnership with electric mobility company Gentari to boost zero-tailpipe emission deliveries in India, according to the e-commerce giant’s statement on Monday.

As part of this collaboration, Gentari Green Mobility Business will supply and deploy electric vehicles over the next three years, while also offering comprehensive fleet management services to Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) to ensure smooth operation and maintenance of the EV fleet. This partnership will give DSPs increased access to electric three-wheelers for Amazon deliveries. The goal is to have 10,000 EVs for last-mile deliveries by 2025.

In the last 10 years, Amazon has worked with various manufacturers, delivery partners, charging station operators, and financial companies to expand EV use in over 400 Indian cities. While noting that over 7,000 EVs had been deployed in India, Abhinav Singh, VP of Operations at Amazon India, said, "We aim to empower our delivery service partners by providing them access to the right electric vehicles, end-to-end vehicle life cycle management services, as well as charging and parking facilities. We deployed more than 7,200 EVs in India at the end of 2023, and we remain well on track to achieve our goal of deploying 10,000 EVs in India by 2025."

Nikhil Thomas, CEO of Gentari Green Mobility India, said, "This collaboration exemplifies Gentari’s dedication to deploying state-of-the-art EV vehicles and operations. As we work together to deploy more EVs and contribute to India’s net zero targets, I'm confident this collaboration will pave the way for a cleaner and electric future for India's transportation sector."

In November of last year, Amazon announced its 50th renewable energy project in India—a 198-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Osmanabad, Maharashtra, marking its seventh utility-scale project. This brought Amazon’s wind and solar investments in India to an estimated $349 million (₹2,885 crore), with $87 million (₹719 crore) contributing to the local GDP from 2014 to 2022 and providing 20,600 full-time jobs in 2022, according to the company.

Additionally, Amazon had also announced 43 rooftop solar projects to power its local facilities. Once all 50 projects were operational, they were expected to generate enough energy to power over 1.1 million homes in New Delhi annually and support Amazon’s data centres, logistics, stores, and offices. The 100 MW solar farm in Bhadla, Rajasthan, was anticipated to be the first utility-scale project to become operational, it adds.