Ashok Leyland Wins India’s Largest Order For Electric Trucks At Rs 150 Crore

Ashok Leyland Ltd. has won India's largest order for electric trucks amid a government initiative to electrify cargo transport in the country.

The Chennai-based truckmaker will supply 180 electric trucks to Billion Electric Mobility Pvt., an e-mobility-as-a-service platform of the company that operates ChargeZone EV charging stations. The deal, valued at Rs 150 crore, will see Ashok Leyland deliver its 14- and 19-tonne BOSS electric trucks and a 55-tonne electric tractor by the fourth quarter of the ongoing fiscal.

“Ashok Leyland is proud of its partnership with BillionE Group as we commence delivery of our electric trucks and tractors,” said Chief Executive Officer Shenu Agarwal, in a statement on Monday. “We remain committed in pushing the boundaries of innovation to lead the shift to green mobility…”

While EV manufacturing is limited at the moment, Ashok Leyland plans to set up a separate assembly line at its Hosur plant to build electric trucks. The new facility will come onstream by early next year with an initial production capacity of 5,000 units/year.

The EV overdrive by a traditional truckmaker is noteworthy, for it follows the government's PM E-Drive scheme to subsidise electric vehicles in the world's third largest automotive industry. A special emphasis has been laid on electrifying commercial vehicles, which are almost entirely dependent on diesel powertrains.

Ashok Leyland said its electric truck is “within striking distance” of achieving price parity with diesel trucks, in terms of total cost of ownership.

“The objective is not to reduce costs but achieve cost parity with diesel trucks,” an Ashok Leyland executive said during a media scrum on Monday. “The good news is EV costs are coming down, batteries are becoming cheaper…In fact, we are now within striking distance of parity with diesel trucks, or even cheaper.”

The BOSS electric trucks have a range of 225-300 km/charge, depending on the model. They can be juiced up via dual charging ports in 60 minutes. Additionally, the vehicles are modular—the batteries are swappable for larger packs as needed.

To be sure, Ashok Leyland wants to limit itself to making electric trucks only, while its wholly owned subsidiary, Switch Mobility, builds electric light commercial vehicles and buses. The company's Lucknow plant, which will go onstream in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, will exclusively make electric buses initially.

That should come as a fillip to a company that's seen a slump in sales of late. In September, total sales fell 10% year-on-year to 17,233 units as against 19,202 units a year ago.  

But how large is the scope of the electric trucking industry to add to Ashok Leyland's incremental volumes? None at present, CEO Agarwal said at the media scrum.

“We are just starting on this journey. Yes, there are different predictions, as to what would be the size of the electric truck industry in 3-5 years from now—from 5% to 20% adoption,” he said. “If companies like BillionE continue to drive the narrative around electric mobility, it can happen much faster as well.”

On Monday, Ashok Leyland shares fell 1.29% to Rs 222.45 apiece on the BSE, as the benchmark Sensex ended the day 0.78% lower at 81,050.00.