New Delhi: Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and BlinkIt, is rethinking its target of converting its delivery fleet entirely to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. The company has made it clear that it is committed to promoting green transportation, but considering the rapid expansion of business, availability of electric vehicles and government policy conditions, changes in the timeline are possible.
Eternal's Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Anjali Ravi Kumar told PTI that the company is making continuous efforts to adopt electric vehicles. This provides economic benefits along with environmental benefits. However, under the current circumstances, making the delivery fleet 100 percent electric by 2030 appears challenging.
Delivery partners increased from 1.5 lakh to 12 lakh
According to Anjali Ravi Kumar, when the company had set a target of converting the entire delivery fleet to electric vehicles by 2030, Zomato had about 1.5 lakh monthly active delivery partners. Now including Zomato and BlinkIt, this number has reached around 12 lakhs. This expansion of business and delivery network has increased the challenge of converting entire fleets to EVs.
Asked if the company was considering extending the target deadline to 2035, he said the new date was being worked on. However, the final decision will also depend on the pace of implementation of government policies related to EVs.
Not only two-wheelers, trucks and small commercial vehicles will also be included.
The company's new strategy will not be limited to just two-wheelers used in delivery. This will also include trucks and small commercial vehicles used for Hyperpure. That is, a plan to make the entire transport fleet of Eternal Group electric is being considered.
The company claims that the share of EVs in its delivery network is almost double the market average. According to an assessment done around December last year, the share of electric vehicles in the Indian market was around 6 to 7 percent, while around 12 to 13 percent of Eternal's delivery partners were using EVs.
Incentives to delivery partners and vehicles on rent
To adopt electric vehicles, the company is taking measures like providing financial incentives to delivery partners, providing EVs on rent and running awareness programs. Under Zomato's policy, delivery partners driving EVs are given the same benefits as those using petrol vehicles.
Apart from this, they are being given information about different electric vehicle models through features like rental options and EV market on the delivery partner app.
Making EV available in 900 cities is a big challenge
Anjali Ravi Kumar said that the biggest challenge before the company is the availability of electric vehicles on a large scale and making them available to delivery partners at affordable rates. To maintain a network of around 12 lakh delivery partners, the company has to add around 30 lakh people every year. In such a situation, it is not easy to provide reliable EVs to such a large number of people in 900 cities of the country.
He stressed that while formulating government policies related to electric vehicles, the economic condition and livelihood of the delivery partners should also be kept in mind. Since most participants own or lease their vehicles, the employment opportunities of those for whom purchasing an EV is not feasible should not be affected.
Sustainable packaging also promoted in restaurants
Apart from electric mobility, Eternal is also working towards encouraging sustainable packaging in the restaurant industry. For this, the company has started an interactive website named 'PackSwitch'. The platform helps restaurant operators find better alternatives to plastic packaging to suit their cuisine.
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