The Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has invited bids for manufacturers to market and distribute 5,000 battery-operated three-wheelers with lithium-ion batteries in the state. The tender has been floated under the GEDA’s battery operated vehicles subsidy program 2020-21.

The contract will also include a comprehensive warranty, against any manufacturing defect, for a minimum period of one year from the date of sale and a two-year warranty for lithium-ion batteries.

The last date to submit the bids is November 12, 2020, and the opening of bids will also take place on the same date.

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹1.5 million (~$20,110) as the earnest money deposit (EMD).

The work should be completed by March 31, 2021, and it should not be carried forward to the next financial year.

The subsidy amount will be ₹48,000 (~$643.5) for vehicles with lithium-ion batteries on the maximum ex-showroom price fixed by GEDA.

To participate in the competitive bidding process, the bidder should have adequate infrastructure to manufacture battery-operated three-wheelers with dealers and service stations in Gujarat. The company should have sufficient technically qualified and well-experienced workforce for manufacturing, marketing, and after-sales services of battery-operated three-wheelers. The company should have been in the business of battery-operated three-wheelers in the last three years.

The authorized dealers must have a 3S facility (sales, services, and spares) in permanent establishment equipped with a dedicated telephone facility and display board.

Regarding the financial criteria, the bidder should have an average financial turnover of ₹30 million (~$402,209) in the last three financial years.

GEDA has invited bids for manufacturers to market and distribute 10,000 battery-operated two-wheelers with lithium-ion batteries in Gujarat in another tender. This tender has also been floated under the GEDA battery-operated vehicles subsidy program for the year 2020-21.

Interested bidders will have to submit an amount of ₹750,000 (~$10,055) as the earnest money deposit (EMD). The last date to submit the bids is November 12, 2020, and the opening of bids will also take place on the same date.

The subsidy amount for electric two-wheelers will be ₹12,000 (~$160.88) for approved models with lithium-ion batteries on the maximum ex-showroom price fixed by GEDA.

The bidder should have a good reputation in the market and should have been manufacturing battery-operated vehicles (two-wheelers) in the last three years.

As per the tender document, the contract will also cover a comprehensive warranty against any manufacturing defect for a minimum period of three years, including for lithium-ion batteries from the vehicles’ date of sale.

Last month, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced that the state government would offer subsidies to encourage battery-operated two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Students studying from classes IX up to colleges will receive a ₹12,000 (~$160.88) assistance covering 10,000 electric two-wheelers. Meanwhile, individual and institutional beneficiaries will receive a ₹48,000 (~$643.5) subsidy for 5,000 three-wheeler e-rickshaws.

In June, GEDA had invited expressions of interest for manufacturers to market and distribute electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers in the state. The EoI was issued under the GEDA’s battery operated vehicles program with state government subsidy for the financial year (FY) 2020-21.