Hero Lectro Cargo (HLC) and Swiggy, India’s leading on demand delivery platform are partnering to pilot the deployment of cargo e-bikes for the use case of last mile food delivery. Swiggy, which has already been planning to include EVs in its fleet, will be utilising Hero Lectro’s WINN – a purpose-built e-bike, in a bid to optimize efficiency, cost and reduce carbon footprint by going green.
Starting August, Swiggy in association with Fast Despatch Logistics (a leading last-mile delivery service provider) and A.S. Group (a familiar name in PBS [Public Bike sharing] space) is launching a pilot in Hyderabad with Hero Lectro WINN, wherein the delivery partners will be making the food deliveries on the cargo e-bikes. The initiative has been launched in line with Swiggy’s larger commitment to increase the adoption of EVs in its delivery fleet.
This will also benefit the riders by increasing their earnings as a result of lower maintenance and vehicle running costs. Furthermore, it will also fulfil the larger objective of reducing the carbon emissions. The pilot also comes at a time when the government has been pushing for e-mobility for cleaner and better-quality air.
This move, if successful is also expected to boost economic growth by offering employment to the aspiring youth of the country. According to a recent report published by global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), India’s gig economy is all set to triple in the next three-four years. This will also contribute at least 1.25% to the GDP in the long term, as per the report published in March 2021. Transportation and logistics is one of the sectors fuelling this rise in the gig economy.
“Hero Lectro Cargo E-bikes are purpose-built which are economically and ergonomically more viable alternatives for the last-mile delivery and will help leading companies like Swiggy in their mission to make deliveries more sustainable. With the launch of this pilot, we are confident that it will enable greater adoption and use of e-mobility. The concept of Cargo E-bikes is only going to be more and more acceptable once the experience spreads since the host of benefits it offers actually comes at zero trade-off,” said Partha Choudhary, President and CEO, Hero Lectro Cargo.
Shivcharan Pulugurtha, SVP, Business Operations at Swiggy said, “At Swiggy, we are committed to facilitating last mile delivery for all our customers in the most sustainable/environment friendly way possible. Our association with Hero Lectro Cargo and Fast Despatch Logistics to pilot the use of electric vehicles (EVs) for the use case of food delivery reflects this commitment. Their affordable and purpose-built cargo bicycles will not only enable us to reduce our carbon footprint but will also help reduce the cost of delivery per km for our delivery partners. Nationally, by 2025, our aim is to cover deliveries spanning 8 lakh kilometres everyday through EVs.”
“Being one of the major last-mile delivery service providers in the UK, we have a dedicated plan to launch our services in India and the tie-up between Swiggy and Hero Lectro Cargo will also provide an ecosystem for FDL to employ local people from Hyderabad. This will also boost employment at a time of pandemic crisis and provide jobs to the youth. In addition, we are trying to build an effective use case for Hero Lectro Cargo, to establish it as the viable alternative that could compete with the delivery rate of any two-wheeler available in the Indian market and accelerate the growth of acceptance of cargo E-bikes for delivery,” said Akhilesh Mishra, Country Head –Operations Fast Despatch Logistics.
Commenting on this development, Anshuman Singh, Founder & CEO of A.S. Group says, “This initiative is the largest of its kind in India with cargo E-bikes. I strongly believe this initiative will give the much-needed impetus to the Government’s push for EVs and expected cost benefits in the long run. We believe in the vision of green delivery and are in the process to create dedicated infrastructure for charging to support the eco system. We hope that this would encourage more companies to make a switch to the EV fleet that will provide increased take-home income to delivery agents along with environmental benefits.”