RELEASE: WRI India and CESL sign MoU to catalyze India’s EV journey

16 Jul, 2021

New Delhi, 16 July, 2021: Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) and World Resources Institute, India (WRI India), on Friday, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work on strategizing for India’s transition towards a net-zero emission trajectory.

Making the move to electric mobility requires a carefully planned strategy that envisions merging the transportation and energy sectors and re-envisions relationships between people and vehicles. This partnership aims to build synergies and support building a ‘Thought Leadership Unit’ at CESL, where WRI India will provide analytical and evidence-based advocacy to accelerate the energy transition, particularly in electric mobility.

Under this partnership, WRI India will support CESL in building adaptative business models to help state governments realize their targets, including decentralizing renewable energy and improving battery storage capacities. “We are thrilled to be partnering with WRI on this important work, honoured to have the benefit of their depth and credibility, and excited at the prospect of building a fruitful relationship in pursuit of goals we both care so deeply about,” said Mahua Acharya, MD and CEO, CESL. Speaking at the signing, Dr. OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, said, “The partnership comes at the cusp of India’s EV revolution. We look forward to helping CESL streamline India’s efforts to switch to electric vehicles.”

CESL is a subsidiary of the state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture of public sector companies under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. WRI India is a research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. WRI India has been working at the intersection of policy and implementation of electric mobility initiatives across the globe. Implementing a fairly new technology requires the ecosystem to evolve and support from all stakeholders. “WRI India will use its experience in working with several local and regional governments to provide technical expertise to ensure that central and state e-bus policies and subsidies translate to more buses deployed on the road,” said Pawan Mulukutla, Director, Electric Mobility program, WRI India.

The partnership will foster and catalyze business models in line with India’s global and domestic commitments to reduce carbon emissions, particularly from the transport sector.

Media contacts:
Nitya Kaushik, WRI India : nitya.kaushik@wri.org, +91 98199 02763
Aparna Vijaykumar, WRI India: Aparna.vijaykumar@wri.org, +91 78389 43954
Neha Bhatnagar, EESL: nbhatnagar@eesl.co.in, +91 98117 43856

About CESL
Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture of public sector companies under the Ministry of Power, Government of India. CESL is focused on delivering clean, affordable and reliable energy. Convergence focuses on energy solutions that lie at the confluence of renewable energy, electric mobility and climate change. CESL will also work towards enabling battery-powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India. Convergence will employ business models that utilize a blend of concessional and commercial capital, carbon finance and grants as appropriate to enable commercialization of these solutions at scale.

About the World Resource Institute India
WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. Our work focuses on building sustainable and liveable cities and working towards a low carbon economy. Through research, analysis, and recommendations, WRI India puts ideas into action to build transformative solutions to protect the earth, promote livelihoods, and enhance human well-being. We are inspired by and associated with World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organization with more than 400 experts and other staff around the world.