In the SCV category, the CNG-powered Super Carry faces competition from the Mahindra Supro and Jeeto, and the CNG version of the market leader Tata Ace. In the pick-up category above it, it is vehicles like the CNGpowered Mahindra Bolero which are finding good acceptance as an alternative fuel CV. Above the pick-up category, which is termed as the LCV segment, there are offerings like the Eicher Pro 2049 CNG, Tata 407 CNG and Tata 709 CNG which are finding acceptance as alternative fuel CVs in the wake of the rising diesel prices. With small, light and intermediate commercial vehicles turning unattractive due to the significant rise in fuel prices, transporters are looking at alternative fuel vehicles powered by LNG and electricity other than CNG to keep costs under control. An industry source mentioned that gaspowered small commercial vehicles have come to account for 40 percent of the total commercial vehicles sales in FY2020-21 as compared to under 10 percent in FY2018-19. He informed that a typical LCV (from sub-one tonne to 7.5-tonne GVW) consumes roughly 1,150 litres of diesel by running about 8,000 km per month, the cost of which is approximately INR 112,000 with a litre of diesel costing about INR 98 per litre in Mumbai. The CNG, in comparison, provides a fair reduction in cost of about 45 to 50 percent as CNG costs approximately INR 52 per kg in Mumbai, he explained. 
 

CNG As An Alternative
Supporting the shift to CNG by commercial operators is the technological advancement. Factory fitted CNG kits on BS VI vehicles are offering better performance, efficiency and reliability. They are presenting peace of mind to the transporter as they get AMC on the entire vehicle and don’t have to worry about the warranty getting void. Sensing a rising level of restlessness among their customers, commercial vehicle manufacturers revisited their CNG strategy. With escalating fuel price, they chalked out plans to develop CNG variants at certain tonnage points. The government announcement to expand CNG network also helped. The fly in the ointment being the geographical bias concerning CNG prices (CNG is cheaper in Delhi NCR than Mumbai or Pune), commercial vehicle manufacturers seem to have tuned their strategies accordingly. With Delhi NCR region toping in CNG vehicle sales, there are regions in the West and South that are lagging for the want of network and in terms of the respective fuel prices. With CNG-powered commercial vehicles in the 3.5-tonne and 15-tonne categories showing good demand, the comment by Vinod Aggarwal, Managing Director and CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles Limited (VECV), that he expects the share (of CNG vehicles) to hover around 25 to 30 percent assumes importance. VECV has the highly successful Eicher Pro 2049 with 5-tonne GVW. It has other CNG-powered BS VI compliant commercial vehicles too in the 5-tonne to 16-tonne space – on the truck side as well as the bus side.
 

Apart from the CNG-powered Jeeto and Supro, Mahindra & Mahindra too is said to be working on rolling out CNG variants of its LCV and ICV range. Shyam Maller, former Executive Vice President – Marketing, Sales and Aftermarket, VECV, and a commercial vehicle industry veteran in India, averred that the significant escalation in the price of diesel vehicles (between 10 to 12 percent in the 5- to 15-tonne category) during the BS VI transition also made them unattractive. The fuel price rise further added to the sentiment. Putting the price escalation in the range of 8 to 17 percent approximately, depending on the segment the vehicle is in, Girish Wagh, Executive Director, Tata Motors, reasoned that this was caused by an increase in the technology content. Regarding the shift to alternative fuel CVs, he informed that the recent diesel price has increased customer focus on the total cost of ownership (TCO). Central to the operation of a commercial vehicle, the cost of urea dosing in vehicles above certain tonnage point has also altered the TCO. With Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR), the fluid dynamics of BS VI emission complaint commercial vehicles has changed. Add the fluid costs to a series of vehicle price hikes in the last eight months, and the TCO equation concerning diesel-powered commercial vehicles has begun to look unattractive.

Of the opinion that transporters have been under pressure since the rising diesel prices have impacted overall profitability and compelled a rise in freight rates, Wagh mentioned, “As the most significant variable, diesel price, depending on the segment and application, may account for 40-58 percent of the TCO. In percentage terms, it has increased by an estimated 10 percent.” Maller stated that the diesel price is accounting for over 60 percent of the TCO and leading transporters to look at either highly efficient BS VI emission complaint commercial vehicle or the one that is powered by an alternative fuel. In an interview to a leading newspaper, Shamsher Diwan, Vice President, ICRA, is known to have said that the (CNG vehicle) trend in terms of increasing penetration of electric commercial vehicles will play out in the mid-term in the wake of the rising diesel prices and restrictions on polluting vehicles. 

In its earnings call for the first quarter of FY2021-22, Tata Motors mentioned that an improvement in CNG infrastructure had ensured that CNG vehicles are limited to certain pockets in the country. With transporter profitability under pressure, it should not surprise commercial vehicle manufacturers to accelerate work on variants as well as new product-lines in the CNG and EV space. While Wagh revealed that they are continuously working to improve the fuel efficiency of their products, which has helped in partially offsetting the impact of fuel inflation for the customers, Gopal Mahadevan, Director and CFO, Ashok Leyland, said in a recent interaction with Motoring Trends that they are applying thrust on CNG vehicles in the LCV and ICV segments.

Petrol As An alternative
 Launching the petrol version of its SCV Ace in July 2021, Tata Motors stressed on it being the most affordable petrol commercial vehicle in its class. With a GVW of over 1.5-tonne, the vehicle, powered by a 30 hp (22 kW) 694 cc engine mated to a four-speed manual transmission, is priced at INR 400,000. Aimed at last-mile delivery applications much like the petrol version of the Maruti Suzuki Super Carry, it is claimed to have the lowest EMI of INR 7,500 per month. With petrol retailing at roughly INR 108 per litre in Mumbai, the case of petrol Ace or Super Carry is supported by their driveability, refinement and lower maintenance cost over their diesel counterpart. 

Capable of catering to segments like logistics, distribution of fruits, vegetables and agricultural products, beverages and bottles, FMCG and FMCD goods, e-commerce, parcel and courier, furniture, packed LPG cylinders, dairy, pharmaceuticals and food products, perishable ‘refrigerated’ goods and waste management, vehicles like the Ace petrol, according to Wagh, have emerged as an alternative fuel option in the SCV segment. Of the opinion that an improvement in overall fluid efficiency during BS VI transitions along with several features and value enhancement has helped lower the TCO of petrol commercial vehicles, Wagh remarked, “These factors are also helping to achieve faster turnaround and payback.” In addition to the advantage of good pick-up and driveability, faster turnaround time and lower maintenance costs, he stressed on the Ace petrol’s acquisition cost, which is 16 percent lower than that of its diesel counterpart. Mahadevan acknowledged that they are seeing petrol CVs emerging at low tonnage (one to 1.5-tonne) points.
 

LNG as an alternative 
As a low polluting alternative to CNG, LNG could soon become a fuel of choice in long-haul commercial vehicles. Receiving a push from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which has outlined a USD 60 billion investment to create gas infrastructure in the country till 2024, LNG is expected to rise in terms of energy mix from the current 6 percent to 15 percent by 2030, according to Maller. As per a study, the liquefied gaseous fuel could be used by at least 10 percent of the 10 million truckers in India. Likely to cost 30 to 40 percent cheaper than fossil fuels, LNG could open up a big retro-fitment market for commercial vehicles as well. It could give rise to an industry manufacturing cryogenic cylinders among other LNG system components. Suitable to power heavy construction and mining equipment like 100-tonne class dump trucks and large excavators as well, LNG as an alternative fuel offers an advantage of higher energy density as compared to CNG. In the case of trucks or buses, the LNG-powered ones could do 600 to 800 km on a full tank.
 

Drawing attention to an investment earmarked in the region of INR 100 billion over the next three years to create LNG infrastructure for long-haul commercial vehicles, Maller averred, “The setting up of 1,000 LNG stations is planned. Of these, some 150 such fuel stations are expected to come up on the golden quadrilateral at an interval of 200 km.” “The first LNG station among those earmarked has already been set up at Nagpur in July 2021,” he added. Retailing LNG at INR 62 per kg, the pump is claimed to be operated by the Indian Oil Corporation. The Indian oil marketing major has obtained several licences in recent years for the building of such facilities. GAIL (India) is also in talks with ExxonMobil and Mitsui, which could potentially partner as LNG suppliers as well as financiers for the initial lot of LNG trucks that would run in India. Stressing on the fact that a CNG ICV-class of trucks could today do Mumbai to Bangalore or vice versa with ease, courtesy the strategically located CNG pumps, an industry source informed that LNG vehicles could manage longer intervals between refills. They could match the range of diesel, he added.
 

Electricity as an alternative 
As per the Phase II of Fame II scheme, it is the electric three-wheelers that are poised to benefit the most as commercial vehicles. Overlook the fragmented nature of the business, and there is a big market for last-mile transportation in terms of shared mobility that is opening up. Attracting the participation of organised players like Mahindra Electric and Piaggio India, and regional players like Hykon and KAL, electricity as an alternative fuel is coming of age. Powering passenger and cargo three-wheelers, it is also driving a shift at the level of buses. Trucks are expected to follow. Promising lower overall TCO despite the higher initial acquisition cost, electricity as an alternative fuel is growing on the premise of reaching parity with fossil fuel-powered vehicles in the next half a decade as battery prices fall. 

With corporates and e-commerce players looking at reducing their carbon footprint, electric commercial vehicles are already enticing interest in terms of cargo carriage at certain tonnage points. On the passenger carrier side, it is the buses that are rising in numbers across the country, courtesy a governmental push and a favourable PPP operating model. If the rollout of 40 Ashok Leyland e-buses at Chandigarh would highlight this, some 93 Tata Starbus e-buses are operating in Kolkata. Mahadevan averred, “We are watching EVs catch up at the local point of use on the encouragement of the government. It is more on the bus side, but trucks will soon catch up.” Maller remarked, “As of April 2021, over 1,100 electric buses are on the roads out of the nearly 5,595 buses. The FAME II with an outlay of INR 100 billion for a period of three years commencing from 1 April 2019 is set to incentivise demand creation for xEVs in the country. This phase aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7,000 electric buses, 500,000 three-wheelers, 55,000 four-wheeler passenger cars and 1 million two-wheelers.”
 

ssues concerning vehicle cost (including TCO), battery life and range, charging infrastructure, finance availability and impact on payload are some of the challenges that will have to be addressed. A reasonably well-thought through estimate is that EV growth as far as commercial vehicles are involved, will be bottom-up. It will begin with SCVs and move up the tonnage points, said Maller. He added that this will be backed by fiscal incentives and governed by falling battery prices. The feasibility of battery electric vehicles for commercial use, explained Maller, is expected to elevate only after the battery pack cost per kWh goes down. A good threshold would be about USD 100.
 

Considering the amount of distance to be covered, new experiments concerning electric vehicles in Europe are opening up new electrification possibilities. An agreement between truck majors Volvo-Daimler-Traton (the Group that owns Scania and MAN) leading to a collective investment of Euro 500 million to install and operate at least 1,700 high-performance green energy charging points close to highways as well as at logistic and destination points within five years from the establishment of the JV is one of them. The objective of the JV is to deliver CO2-neutral transport solutions to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

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Vedanta Aluminium has deployed its first cohort of 30 women crane pilots at the Bharat Aluminium Company  (BALCO) unit in Korba, Chhattisgarh. The group includes 20 Pot Tending Machine (PTM) pilots and 10 beam-raising operators, marking a shift toward women-led operations as the facility enters the ‘million tonne club’.

The pilots operate in a smelting environment, executing tasks for stable metal production. These responsibilities include: anode changing & covering, tapping of molten aluminium and beam raising activities across all potlines.

The deployment followed a training programme involving classroom instruction, simulator sessions and on-the-job exposure. Currently, beam-raising activities at the plant are led by women designated as Beam Raising In-Charge in each room.

The initiative is part of a broader strategy to automate core manufacturing roles and make them gender-agnostic. Vedanta Aluminium has previously implemented:

• Jharsuguda: India’s first fully women-operated potline.
• Lanjigarh: An all-women team managing the digital command centre at the alumina refinery.
• Logistics: An all-women locomotive crew for in-plant rail operations.

BALCO also integrates transgender professionals into functions such as forklift operations and security, supported by policies including financial assistance and paid leave for gender reaffirmation.

Rajiv Kumar, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium, said, “Automation and advanced technologies are reshaping how modern aluminium operations function across all our units. This transformation is creating space for a new generation of highly skilled professionals to lead critical, technology-enabled roles. At Vedanta Aluminium, we are proud to see women stepping confidently into these specialised positions across our operations. This milestone at BALCO reflects our commitment to building a future-ready workforce while fostering greater participation of women in core manufacturing.”

Naaz Fatima, a PTM pilot, commented, “Working as a PTM pilot is both challenging and deeply rewarding. What I value most is that the company trusts us with these critical operations and invests in our growth. It feels empowering to know that our work directly contributes to BALCO’s progress and that we are shaping a new future for women in industrial roles.”

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KKR, Allfleet India and PMI Electro Mobility Solutions have announced definitive agreements for a strategic partnership. KKR-managed funds will commit up to USD 310 million to scale Allfleet’s electric bus platform and enhance PMI Electro’s manufacturing capabilities.

As part of the transaction, KKR will acquire a majority stake in Allfleet and a minority stake in PMI Electro. This represents the eighth investment globally under KKR’s Global Climate Transition strategy and its first in India.

Established in 2022, Allfleet serves as the e-bus platform for PMI Electro, focusing on the ownership and operation of public transport fleets. The company is currently deploying over 5,000 electric buses under long-term service agreements with various state transport authorities across India.

The partnership will see an integrated model covering manufacturing led by PMI Electro, ownership and operations by managed by Allfleet and lifecycle support by technical maintenance and infrastructure management.

KKR’s investment is drawn from its Global Climate Transition strategy, which has committed over USD 44 billion to sustainability initiatives since 2010. The firm’s global portfolio in this sector includes transport electrification specialist Zenobe in the UK and solar developer Avantus in the US.

The capital will be used to expand Allfleet’s presence in Indian cities and support the national transition toward decarbonised urban mobility.

Neil Arora, Partner and Head, of KKR’s Climate Transition strategy for Asia-Pacific, said, “Transport electrification is a critical pillar of the energy transition, and India – with its scale, urbanisation trends and decarbonisation ambitions – represents one of the most significant opportunities for the sector globally. The differentiated combination of Allfleet’s proven, scalable platform and PMI’s manufacturing and service expertise stands out as a full-service solution in this market. We look forward to supporting Allfleet’s next phase of growth by working together with PMI and leveraging KKR’s global operational expertise and experience investing across climate transition.”

Aanchal Jain, CEO, PMI Electro and Director, Allfleet, said, “This investment by KKR marks a defining milestone in our journey and is a powerful endorsement of the integrated electric mobility platform we have built at Allfleet. PMI Electro’s vision is to create a scalable, reliable, and future-ready ecosystem that can transform public transport in India. As our cities grow and mobility needs evolve, clean, efficient, and accessible public transport will play a central role in shaping a more sustainable future.”

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Navi General Insurance has launched its motor insurance product, expanding its portfolio into the automotive sector. The offering provides a digital, app-led process for car and two-wheeler insurance with instant policy issuance and a zero-commission structure.

The company’s business model removes intermediary commissions traditionally associated with agent and dealer-led distribution. This direct-to-customer approach is intended to pass cost efficiencies to the policyholder.

Motor insurance currently accounts for approximately 30-35 percent of total premiums in the Indian general insurance market. The sector is supported by mandatory third-party cover requirements and increasing vehicle ownership.

The company’s service includes digital integration, comprehensive coverage options, electric vehicle-specific plans, add-on covers and underwriting & claims.

Vaibhav Goyal, Managing Director & CEO, Navi General Insurance, stated, “Motor insurance is one of the most widely held financial products in India, yet the buying and claims experience remains complicated. We see a tremendous opportunity to change that. As a digital-first, direct-to-customer insurer, we are cutting out commissions entirely, thus passing those savings directly to customers through competitive pricing. Simplifying finance for every Indian is at the heart of what we do at Navi, and with motor insurance, we're extending that promise to a product that touches millions of vehicle owners every year.”

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Kordsa, a subsidiary of Sabancı Holding, presented its advanced material technologies to a global audience at the JEC World 2026 trade show in Paris. The company featured its latest breakthroughs in composite technologies tailored for the aviation, energy and automotive sectors. The event also served as a platform for Kordsa to communicate its sustainable growth strategy and technological transformation to an international network of stakeholders.

Held from 10 to 12 March 2026, JEC World is recognised as the premier global event for the composites industry. By convening the entire value chain, the exhibition enabled Kordsa to prominently display its expanding role and expertise in composite materials. The company’s presence was reinforced by its international subsidiaries, including US-based Fabric Development, Inc., Textile Products, Inc. and Axiom Materials, Inc., alongside Italy’s Microtex Composites Srl., demonstrating a unified approach shaped by evolving market demands.

Among the key innovations showcased were Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) technologies, carbon-reinforced prepregs, thermoplastic automotive interior components and structural body parts. These solutions are engineered to deliver high performance and reduced weight while simultaneously boosting production efficiency and minimising carbon footprint. For the aviation and energy industries, the company highlighted advanced composites designed to meet stringent demands for high-temperature resistance, durability and operational reliability.

Ergun Hepvar, CEO, Kordsa, said, “JEC World is one of the most important global meeting points in the field of composite technologies. On this platform, which brings together the entire value chain of the industry, we have the opportunity to closely observe both the current state of technologies and the trends that will shape the future. This year, we clearly saw that solutions focused on sustainability, lightweighting, high performance and production efficiency are becoming increasingly decisive. At the same time, we witnessed a transformation in customer expectations towards more integrated, agile and sustainable solutions. As Kordsa, we will continue to be an active part of this transformation and to develop value-creating solutions together with our customers.”

Emphasising that Kordsa differentiates itself in composite technologies by offering an end-to-end integrated structure, from R&D and serial production to supply chain and certification processes, Hepvar further added, “The increasing demand for advanced material solutions further strengthens our position in composites. We position composite technologies as one of our two strategic focus areas in Kordsa’s future. In this field, we adopt an approach that expands technological depth, product diversity and application areas simultaneously. Composite technologies stand out as a core area shaping both Kordsa’s present and future. Our goal is to deepen our capabilities here, build a structure that generates higher added value, differentiates itself and grows together with its customers.”

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