India’s commercial electric vehicle market is entering what Ganesh Mani believes could become its next major growth phase. While electric two- and three-wheelers have already established meaningful scale, buses and larger commercial vehicles are now beginning to see broader acceptance across public transport and commercial mobility applications.
For Switch Mobility, that shift is already translating into stronger order visibility, expanding deployments and growing opportunities beyond government-led tenders. The company recently facilitated Delhi’s first double-decker electric bus deployment, adding the national capital to a growing network of cities where its electric double-decker buses are already operational.
In this exclusive interaction with Autocar Professional, Mani speaks about the emotional significance of bringing the buses to Delhi, the economics of commercial EV adoption, why financing remains one of the industry’s biggest hurdles and how Switch Mobility is preparing for its next phase of growth.
Switch Mobility has become the first company to bring double-decker electric buses to Delhi. How important has this journey been for the company?
It is a very proud and emotional moment for the entire Hinduja Group, especially for Switch Mobility. We always wanted to see these buses running in Delhi. We had already introduced them in cities such as Mumbai, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad, but bringing them to the national capital always felt special for us.
Double-decker buses naturally attract attention. People immediately notice them, and when they realise these are electric buses, it creates a completely different level of visibility for clean mobility as well. So for us, this is not just another deployment milestone. It is also about demonstrating what modern public transportation can look like in India.
We are thankful to Delhi Tourism for agreeing to operate this bus. As the first bus, we donated it on behalf of the Hinduja Group. Going forward, we would genuinely like to see many more such buses operating on Delhi roads.
How many double-decker electric buses has Switch Mobility deployed so far?
We have deployed more than 100 buses so far across different cities. What is interesting is that these buses are not being used only for tourism or hop-on hop-off applications. They are also operating on intercity routes.
Some of these buses run between important cities and cover distances of around 130-160 km. The response has been extremely positive, both from passengers as well as operators.
Mumbai has already become one of the biggest examples for us, with more than 50 buses running there. We also have deployments in Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and other locations. Every city gives us more confidence that there is a growing acceptance for electric public mobility in India.
How has the electric bus business evolved for Switch Mobility over the last year?
The EV segment is clearly moving upwards now. In buses, we are likely to finish with more than 1,500 buses this year, which is nearly double the numbers we achieved last year. Going forward, we will have to continue scaling aggressively.
The momentum is no longer limited to only one category or one geography. We are seeing growing conversations around electric mobility across multiple use cases.
In electric light commercial vehicles as well, the market is steadily evolving. Customers are becoming more aware of operational economics and long-term savings. That shift in mindset is important because commercial EV adoption ultimately becomes stronger when customers start evaluating lifetime operating benefits rather than only upfront acquisition costs.
At a broader level, Mani believes the Indian EV transition is now unfolding category by category. According to him, the strong rise seen first in electric two-wheelers and then in three-wheelers is gradually extending into buses and larger commercial vehicles as economics improve.
Your order pipeline also appears to be strengthening significantly. What is driving this demand?
The order visibility for next year is already looking strong. We have around 2,500 buses in the pipeline. What is changing now is that demand is no longer coming only from government tenders.
We are increasingly seeing interest from staff transportation, school buses and multiple commercial mobility applications. This is an important shift because once EV adoption starts spreading across these segments, the market becomes much broader and healthier.
Going forward, we would like to expand into areas where electric buses are still not very visible today. The more the ecosystem evolves beyond tender-driven demand, the stronger and more sustainable the business becomes.
What continues to remain the single biggest challenge for electric mobility in India?
Battery costs and upfront capital costs continue to remain one of the biggest challenges, especially in buses and commercial vehicles. The difference between diesel and electric vehicle acquisition cost is still significant.
At the same time, operationally, electric buses are already becoming viable. If you look at total cost of ownership, in less than four to five years an electric bus becomes operationally positive compared to a diesel bus. That is already a major change.
The important thing is how to bridge the initial financing gap. That is where financial institutions and newer business models will play a very important role.
A lot of financial institutions are now becoming more active in this area, which is encouraging. The ecosystem itself is improving steadily.
Does financing remain a bigger challenge than technology itself?
Financing is definitely one of the most important aspects. Charging infrastructure is another major area that still needs rapid expansion.
The government has already announced several initiatives around charging infrastructure. As the ecosystem develops further and becomes more charging-agnostic and interoperable, it will help accelerate adoption across the country.
That will also support wider deployment across different vehicle categories, battery capacities and applications. Commercial EV adoption cannot scale in isolation. The entire ecosystem has to grow together.
How do you see the larger EV transition unfolding in India over the next few years?
The transition is happening step by step. Two-wheelers started moving first, then three-wheelers. Now this is the phase where buses and larger commercial vehicles are beginning to move more seriously towards electrification.
India’s larger sustainability goals are also pushing the ecosystem in that direction. The focus on carbon reduction and cleaner mobility is becoming stronger every year.
At the same time, customers are becoming more practical in evaluating EVs. Earlier, discussions were mainly around technology. Today, conversations are increasingly around economics, uptime, operations and lifecycle benefits. That is a healthy evolution for the industry.
What would define success for Switch Mobility over the next five years?
We would like to cross the $1 billion turnover mark in the next five years. That would mean scaling to nearly four times our current size.
But for us, success is not only about revenue. It is also about expanding electric mobility into segments and regions where it is still limited today. We want to reach more customers across school transportation, staff mobility and multiple other commercial applications.
Once that starts happening at a larger scale, the transition towards cleaner mobility in India will become much stronger. We believe the opportunity ahead is significant, and we are preparing ourselves for that next phase of growth.