Zomato, Blinkit parent Eternal may push back 100% EV delivery fleet target

New Delhi: While remaining committed to green mobility, Zomato and Blinkit parent Eternal is reassessing its 2030 target for a 100 per cent electric delivery fleet due to rapid business expansion and an evolving EV ecosystem.

In an interview with PTI, Anjalli Ravi Kumar, Chief Sustainability Officer at Eternal, said the company is working toward a revised timeline, factoring in the availability of electric vehicles, supporting government policies, and the transportation requirements of its various businesses.

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"We are still committed to electrifying the fleet. We are deeply committed to it because it still makes economic sense," she said.

However, acknowledging that the earlier deadline may not be achievable, Kumar said the company's operations had expanded considerably since the original target was set.

"It doesn't look feasible because, beyond the penetration numbers, our business is also growing massively. When we set the target, there were only 1.5 lakh monthly active riders on Zomato. Today, there are 12 lakh riders across Zomato and Blinkit," she said.

On whether the company could commit to a revised target, possibly by 2035, Kumar said it was working towards a date, with the pace of EV policy implementation also likely to influence the decision.

"We are actively working towards a date. Some of it will depend on the government as well, in terms of whether EV policies have rolled out across the country sufficiently for us to commit to 2035. We are very hopeful. But bear in mind that we have other businesses as well.

"For instance, Hyperpure also uses a lot of delivery vehicles, and those are four-wheeler deliveries involving trucks and smaller commercial vehicles. So, the new EV target for the Eternal Group needs to factor in all kinds of transportation, not just the two-wheeler segment. We can't think about individual businesses anymore. When we set a target, we have to set it for the group. That's our thinking," she said.

Despite the challenges, the company said its delivery fleet was already seeing higher EV adoption than the broader Indian two-wheeler market. Kumar said the company's approach was to encourage partners to adopt electric vehicles through financial incentives, greater access to rental options and awareness initiatives, rather than mandate a particular vehicle choice.

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"In our previous estimation, which was done around last December, EV penetration in the market was only around 6-7 per cent. Within our own fleet, there were already about 12-13 per cent of partners using EVs. So, we were already at almost double the market penetration," she said.

One measure encouraging EV adoption is Zomato's equal-benefit policy, under which delivery partners using electric vehicles are paid as much as those using petrol-powered vehicles, despite the lower operating costs.

Kumar said the company also facilitates access to electric vehicles through rental options on its delivery partner app and initiatives such as the EV Bazaar, which familiarises partners with different models available in the market.

At the same time, she said, the scale of its delivery operations makes access and affordability important considerations, particularly as the company onboards large numbers of partners across cities.

"To maintain a base of 12 lakh riders a month, I need to onboard 30 lakh people a year. Now, the question is whether 30 lakh people across 900 cities will all be able to access an EV reliably.

"That's an important question, and this is just the number for this year. Tomorrow, it could be 35 lakh, right? Can I guarantee that all 30 lakh people joining us will have access to an EV across 900 cities? I'm not in a position to make that guarantee, and I don't know when I will," she said.

Kumar also stressed the importance of designing EV policies that account for the livelihoods and financial circumstances of delivery partners, who generally arrange their own vehicles.

She added that the company was advocating worker-friendly EV policies to ensure that the transition to cleaner mobility did not restrict employment opportunities for people who may not be in a position to purchase electric vehicles.

Beyond electric mobility, Eternal is also working with restaurant partners to encourage the adoption of sustainable packaging through initiatives such as PackSwitch, an interactive website that helps restaurants identify alternatives to plastic packaging based on the dishes they serve.

Kumar said the company was working to address three key barriers to the adoption of sustainable packaging -- complexity, convenience and cost -- by helping restaurants discover suitable alternatives, improve access to suppliers and connect with startups developing new solutions.

Through its Hyperpure business, the company sold more than 3,000 metric tonnes of sustainable packaging to 50,000 restaurants last year.

On the consumer front, more than 10,000 restaurants across over 400 cities have received Zomato's low-plastic packaging tag after the company verified that the packaging used for their main menu was sustainable in nature.