Jayesh Shelar, Chief Marketing Officer, Blue Energy Motors Ltd
| Photo Credit:
Bijoy Ghosh
Pune-based Blue Energy Motors (BEM) is preparing to scale up its electric freight corridor network beyond the Mumbai–Pune route launched last year, betting on corridor-led infrastructure to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks in India.
Electric trucks cannot be sold in isolation in India. They need a corridor, a network and a business model that works for fleet operators, said Jayesh Shelar, Chief Marketing Officer, Blue Energy Motors. The Mumbai–Pune stretch was selected as it is among the country’s busiest freight routes, linking Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Pune’s industrial belt and consumption centres in Mumbai, he told businessline.
Founded in 2020, the company currently operates battery-swapping stations at Chakan, Talegaon and Khalapur. It plans to expand the network to Bhiwandi and Tarapur in partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd and other oil marketing companies. Similar corridor projects are under way at ports and industrial hubs across Gujarat, Maharashtra and northern India.
BEM also plans to set up a battery assembly plant in the near future. It plans a ₹3,500-crore electric and clean truck manufacturing facility in Maharashtra. The investment for this will come from $50 million raised so far. This includes $30 million from Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, he added.
Its Chakan plant currently has an annual capacity of 10,000 trucks, with plans to scale this up to 30,000 electric trucks annually under a MoU with the Maharashtra government, he said.
BEM is targeting a pan-India network of electric freight corridors, focusing on key stretches of the Golden Quadrilateral as well as the north–south and east–west highway routes. Over the next six to twelve months, it plans to interlink corridors connecting Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, starting with anchor customers operating out of ports, industrial hubs and high-density logistics clusters.
Shelar said regenerative braking on the ghat sections of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway allows trucks (55 tonne capacity) to recover significant energy while descending, further improving operating economics. Battery-swapping stations at Khalapur, Talegaon and Chakan enable electric heavy-duty trucks to operate with swap times of under five minutes, ensuring uninterrupted freight movement between ports, industrial hubs and warehouses—critical for time-sensitive logistics.
Under its business model, BEM sells electric trucks without batteries, significantly lowering upfront capital costs. Batteries are treated as fuel and provided at swapping stations, with customers paying only for energy consumed.
With the battery accounting for nearly 50 per cent of an electric truck’s cost, this approach reduces vehicle prices from around ₹95 lakh to about ₹55 lakh (ex-GST), bringing electric trucks closer to diesel economics from day one. Fleet operators can also opt for DC fast charging, which takes 45–50 minutes, offering flexibility during long halts or congestion. The company plans to increasingly operate under an “energy-as-a-service” model.
While electric corridors are a long-term focus, Blue Energy Motors continues to scale its LNG truck business, with more than 1,200 LNG trucks currently on Indian roads. LNG remains the preferred solution on routes where electric infrastructure is still evolving, offering lower emissions and around 40 per cent lower per-kilometre costs than diesel, he said.
Published on February 22, 2026