Tata Motors has won a marquee government contract for supplying 10,000 electric cars in the contest for the Rs 1,120 crore order, the largest such procurement anywhere in the world. The vehicles will be procured by state-owned Energy Efficiency Services (EESL) at a per-unit price of Rs 11.2 lakh and will lay the foundation for the government’s ambitious plan for a mass shift to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. “Tata Motors quoted the lowest price of Rs 10.16 lakh exclusive of GST in the competitive bidding. The vehicle will be provided inclusive of GST and comprehensive 5-year warranty which is 25% below the current retail price of a similar e-car with 3-year warranty,” the government said in a statement. All 10,000 e-cars would be procured in two phases with 500 to be procured in phase-I and 9,500 vehicles to be ordered post phase-I deliveries. The contract is the starting point of EESL’s EV procurement programme, given that these vehicles will be used to replace the petrol and diesel cars used by the government and its agencies, which have around half-a-million cars, of which about a third are leased. The government has given the EV sourcing mandate to EESL, with the next set of tenders expected to source e-rickshaws and e-autos under the faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India (FAME) scheme. Tata Motors started its EV journey over three years ago, when in May 2014, UK-based Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) revealed a Manza REEV (range extended electric vehicle) demonstrator vehicle. Located at University of Warwick in Coventry, TMETC has been working on high-voltage distribution systems, battery design and vehicle controller development, which were incorporated into Manza REEV.