Participants and speakers at Driving India’s Freight Electrification: Collaborative Strategies for Corridor Deployment – Workshop
Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation participated as speaker and moderator at the ‘Driving India’s Freight Electrification: Collaborative Strategies for Corridor Deployment – Workshop,’ hosted by WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development in Mumbai on June 24th-25th, 2024.
Priti Shukla, Programme Manager at Shakti, as a Speaker and Moderator
Priti presenting on the global development of e-truck adoption in freight trucking and co-moderated the World Café format of the workshop with Sharvari Patki from
Priti Shukla, Programme Manager, Electric Mobility Initiative, Shakti, participated as both speaker and moderator at the event. Playing a pivotal role in the session dedicated to Policy, Priti drew attention to some gaps regarding the deployment of electric trucks and infrastructure corridors, offering practical recommendations. Additionally, she presented insights on the global progress of e-truck adoption in freight logistics and co-moderated the World Café session during the workshop with WRI India.
The meeting brought together business leaders, partners, and financiers to discuss opportunities and necessary actions across three key enablers with the following goals: refine corridor locations and plans to support emerging e-truck pilot infrastructure; develop strategies for the private sector to expedite charging infrastructure deployment; define financing options and mechanisms to facilitate investments in trucks and infrastructure; and establish critical policies to facilitate widespread pilot and infrastructure deployment.
Discussions emphasised India’s leadership under NITI Aayog and collaboration with E-FAST partners to drive national e-freight market growth aligned with demand. A projected a need for around 8,000 trucks by 2030 was highlighted during the Clean Energy Ministerial and G20 events in Goa. Business leaders spurred a collaborative push among stakeholders to implement large-scale e-freight pilots. Initiatives such as UltraTech’s deployment of 500 electric trucks and integration of 1,000 CNG/LNG vehicles by June 2025; Amazon’s commitment to introduce up to 1,000 cutting-edge e-trucks over five years; JSW’s expansion of its e-truck pilot to 50 units by end-2024 with plans to scale to 500; and Maersk’s intention to deploy more than 500 Electric Vehicles were the key highlights. The current focus is on accelerating adoption through strategic enablers by ensuring infrastructure deployment on pilot corridors, developing facilities and mechanisms to mitigate investment risks, and fostering a supportive policy environment.