Driving Change: Ecomm firms amp up for sustainable future

Economic Times

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Bengaluru: Electric vehicles are powering the green transformation of India's ecommerce industry. Amid an overall surge in order volumes, companies like Flipkart, Amazon, BigBasket, Swiggy, and Eternal (formerly Zomato) are speeding up the transition to ecofriendly vehicles for last-mile delivery , especially quick commerce. This is helping cut costs while lowering emissions and reducing the climate footprint.Walmart-backed Flipkart is looking to make its entire logistics fleet electric. After achieving the operational fleet milestone of 10,000 EVs last September, the company expanded its EV lineup by more than a third within six months.In FY25, Eternal, which also owns the Blinkit quick-commerce brand, completed more than 87 million EV-based food deliveries, a 40% rise from the previous year, expanding its EV rider base to over 37,000 across over 425 cities.BigBasket's EV fleet has more than doubled to 10,500 scooters this year, from 5,000 two years ago, with a third of the delivery fleet using electric scooters for order deliveries. Rival Swiggy announced a goal of transitioning to a full EV delivery fleet by 2030.'Beyond environmental benefits, sustainability investments unlock new market opportunities and resonate with conscious consumers, strengthening customer loyalty. This balanced approach allows us to operate more efficiently, reduce waste, and build a more resilient business model,' said Abhinav Singh, vice president, operations, Amazon India and Australia.Amazon India deployed over 10,000 EVs in its delivery fleet as of October 2024, achieving the goal more than a year ahead of its 2025 target. These EVs operate in more than 500 cities across India, and the programme enables Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) to lease them.Amazon's primary goal is to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040, with electrifying last-mile deliveries as a key aspect. A Research & Markets report valued India's online food ordering and delivery market at $31.77 billion in 2024, and it is expected to grow at 28.17% compounded annually to around $140.85 billion by 2030. Using EVs for deliveries would help companies to reduce their climate footprint.'At Flipkart, our approach to logistics is rooted in sustainability, innovation, and long-term impact,' said Nishant Gupta, head of sustainability, Flipkart. 'Today, more than 70% of our grocery deliveries are fulfilled using EVs.'The cost advantage also positively benefits delivery agents using these vehicles. Gupta said, 'Our goal isn't just to meet sustainability targets but to shape a resilient and future-ready supply chain that contributes to a cleaner India.'Companies are rapidly expanding charging infrastructure, partnering with EV makers and EV aggregation platforms, and forging tie-ups to give riders exclusive EV leasing benefits.BigBasket installed more than 3,000 EV charging sockets across its dark stores and BB Now stores, which it will continue expanding, said chief operating officer TK Balakumar.The Tata Group company is working with EV aggregators such as Zypp and Yulu for accelerating EV adoption besides engaging with national third-party logistics (3PL) partners for scaling up EV fleet deployment.Eternal, which aims to shift to 100% EV-based food deliveries by 2030, actively supports delivery partners to transition to EVs via a three-pronged strategy—raising EV awareness, building partnerships, and promoting EV ownership. 'We educate delivery partners through multilingual videos and app-based updates, and facilitate easy access to rentals and charging infrastructure through integrations with over 40 rental partners, battery-swapping networks and logistics service providers,' said Anjalli Ravi Kumar, chief sustainability officer, Eternal.To accelerate the adoption and improve accessibility of EVs for delivery partners, Zomato launched an EV rental bike fleet in Delhi, facilitating two-wheeler EVs on rent to its delivery partners. It has introduced 300 EV bikes through this pilot phase.