New Delhi, Dec 9:- Astranova Mobility, India’s fastest-growing EV financing and asset-management platform, has partnered with Zingbus to deploy multiple fully electric intercity buses on one of the country’s busiest corridors Delhi to Dehradun (275+ km). The first electric buses under this partnership are already operational, offering passengers a quieter, zero-tailpipe-emission journey while delivering superior on-road economics for the operator. Zingbus has already seen strong passenger adoption on its EV-led routes with high uptime and improved ride quality. The company is now planning to deploy additional EV buses as it scales its electric fleet toward 1,000 buses over the next few years.
This marks Astranova’s successful expansion into the high-impact intercity bus segment, making it the only Indian financing platform to offer end-to-end EV leasing solutions across two-wheelers, three-wheelers, passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, chargers, trucks and now buses.
Over the next 12 months, Astranova plans to lease EV buses worth more than INR 200 crores across selected routes via various operators including Zingbus.
Mr. Kunal Mundra, Founder and CEO, Astranova Mobility, shares his vision behind the partnership;
“Intercity buses account for a disproportionate share of transport emissions in India. Electrifying even a percentage of these seats will have an outsized climate impact and we have therefore made significant investments in this space to ensure we have the right engineering and data capabilities to finance operators in this space and accelerate this transition. We are particularly excited to partner with Zingbus who have been pioneers in the intercity bus space and we look forward to expanding this blueprint pan – India”.
Mr. Prashant Kumar, CEO & Co-founder, Zingbus, added;
“Astranova’s financing model helps us move faster, and this partnership is directly accelerating our EV expansion on India’s busiest routes. Our per-km costs on these electric corridors are already lower than diesel, and passengers are actively preferring the smoother, cleaner ride. For us, this partnership strengthens a long-term EV vision built on profitable, technology-led clean mobility”.
The collaboration removes the three biggest barriers for bus operators moving to electric – firstly the high upfront cost gets distributed over a long tenure due to a customised leasing solution for the operator, secondly the range and charging anxiety gets addressed by partnering with the right OEMs with the right products and lastly Astranova also helps operators manage concerns around the asset with their customised buy-back and refurbishment programs.
The electrification of large commercial vehicles is still a crucial area as India moves closer to its net-zero objective. The implementation is a reflection of a larger change in the industry, as intercity bus operators are considering electric options for high-frequency routes.