MAM
EKA Mobility & GreenCell Mobility sign MoU to roll out 1000 electric buses
Mumbai: EKA Mobility, an electric vehicles & technology company (with Mitsui Co., Ltd. & VDL Group as equity partners), and GreenCell Mobility, a player in the electric mass mobility space, announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under this collaboration, EKA Mobility will supply GreenCell Mobility with 1000 intercity electric buses in 12-meter and 13.5-meter categories, in the next few years. EKA Mobility and GreenCell Mobility are committed to working closely together to drive positive change in the global automobile sector by producing industry leading electric buses to transform public transportation.
EKA Mobility founder & chairman Dr. Sudhir Mehta, emphasized the strategic synergy, saying, “Our collaboration with GreenCell Mobility is strategically positioned to usher in a cleaner, more sustainable future through electric mass transportation. Public transportation, especially the intercity bus transportation is the primary mode of transport for more than 50 per cent of Indians. Electrification of public transportation will pave the way for cleaner air, quieter streets, more efficient, convenient, safer, and cost-effective travel for all. At EKA, we are committed to developing sustainable, environmentally conscious, and profitable products. By combining our expertise, we hope to set new standards in commercial electric mobility, contributing considerably to the nation’s sustainability objectives.”
In response to the MoU signing, GreenCell Mobility, MD & CEO Devndra Chawla commented, “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with EKA Mobility, a leader in the electric vehicle domain. This partnership not only strengthens our position in the market but also significantly aligns with our long-term vision for sustainable mobility. At GreenCell mobility as market leaders, we are setting a new benchmark in the industry. Our combined efforts are poised to transform public transportation, offering a cleaner, more efficient, and environmentally friendly solution. This initiative is a significant stride towards our commitment to innovation and sustainability, and it underscores our dedication to a greener, more sustainable future. We are excited about the possibilities this partnership opens up and are committed to leading the charge in the evolution of electric mobility.”
EKA Mobility shall be responsible for supply, sales, and service of these buses, along with delivering quality certification reports to ensure the highest standards in this collaborative endeavour. The supply of 1000 electric buses are expected to have a large and positive impact on our environment. The associated figures illustrate the potential benefits, estimating annual fuel cost savings of Rs 70 crores and the avoidance of 120 lakh gallons of diesel, which is equivalent to growing 15 lakh trees. Furthermore, an estimated 6 lakh individuals will benefit every day from an improved and sustainable public transit infrastructure. Overall, this initiative is expected to result in a projected saving of 32400 Tonnes of CO2 emissions, greatly contributing to the reduction of tailpipe emissions and building a cleaner, more sustainable future.
This collaboration underscores major national and worldwide initiatives towards sustainability, recognizing the critical need for cleaner and more environmentally friendly transportation options. EKA Mobility and GreenCell Mobility’s collaborative initiatives represent an important step towards a greener India and a cleaner world.
EKA Mobility is one of the commercial vehicle manufacturers approved under the Champion OEM Scheme & EV component manufacturing scheme of the Government of India’s Auto PLI policy. EKA is one of the only Indian companies offering end-to-end design, manufacturing & technology of electric new energy commercial vehicles from scratch in India. The company has set up a state-of-the-art research, development, engineering & innovation center in Pune, Maharashtra, and has significantly grown its order book, with more than 700 electric buses and more than 5000 electric light commercial vehicle orders in the pipeline. All these vehicles will be completely designed & manufactured in India, at EKA’s proposed & existing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. In the last two years, the company has introduced electric city bus, staff carrier & school bus, 9-meter hydrogen fuel-cell electric bus, and is now all set to enter the last mile delivery with its range of e-LCVs designed & customized to suit Indian customers and businesses.
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
