NITI Aayog Launches PACT to Accelerate Zero-Emission Truck Deployment Across India

India has launched a new national platform aimed at accelerating the commercial deployment of zero-emission freight vehicles by aggregating demand, strengthening charging infrastructure planning and connecting logistics companies with manufacturers, financiers and technology providers.

The Platform for Aggregating Clean Transport, or PACT, was launched by NITI Aayog Member Rajiv Gauba at the 5th e-FAST India Summit 2026 on September 7.

PACT has been developed under e-FAST India — Electric Freight Accelerator for Sustainable Transport, a NITI Aayog-led initiative focused on supporting the transition toward zero-emission freight, particularly in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle segment.

The new platform is intended to address one of the central challenges facing electric trucking in India: fragmented demand.

Rather than relying largely on isolated fleet purchases or pilot projects, PACT will work with shippers, logistics service providers and other freight users to aggregate demand across major transport corridors.

The aggregated demand can then be matched with electric-truck manufacturers, charging-network operators, financiers and other stakeholders, helping improve visibility over where vehicles and charging facilities will be required.

This corridor-based approach could make it easier for companies to evaluate the commercial viability of deploying electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, while giving charging providers greater certainty when planning infrastructure investments.

India’s electric freight market has already begun expanding rapidly.

According to figures presented at the summit, deployments of electric freight vehicles increased more than fourfold from 201 vehicles in FY2024-25 to 826 vehicles in FY2025-26.

More than 3,000 electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks are now operating across India, indicating that the segment is beginning to move beyond its early demonstration phase.

However, scaling deployment to significantly larger numbers will require coordinated investment in vehicles, charging infrastructure, finance and logistics operations.

High upfront vehicle costs, uncertainty over utilisation rates, limited charging infrastructure along freight corridors and concerns over battery life and resale value remain important commercial barriers.

PACT is intended to help address some of these challenges by creating a common framework through which freight demand and deployment opportunities can be identified.

The platform will bring together shippers, logistics service providers, vehicle manufacturers, financiers, charge point operators and technology companies, allowing stakeholders to develop projects around specific freight corridors and operating requirements.

For vehicle manufacturers, aggregated demand can provide clearer information about potential fleet orders.

For charging companies, it can indicate where high-utilisation truck routes are emerging and where charging hubs may be commercially viable.

Financiers could also gain greater visibility over vehicle utilisation and contractual demand, potentially reducing some of the risk associated with lending for relatively new electric-trucking business models.

Speaking at the summit, Rajiv Gauba said India had already made considerable progress in building domestic electric-vehicle manufacturing capacity and creating supportive policies, but the next phase would depend on solving broader ecosystem challenges.

He highlighted innovative financing models, corridor-based charging networks and market-driven partnerships as important factors in making electric trucks commercially attractive at scale.

The summit also introduced the ZET Marketplace, another initiative intended to accelerate the development of India’s zero-emission trucking ecosystem.

The marketplace serves as a business-engagement platform connecting electric-truck manufacturers, logistics companies, charging operators, financiers and technology providers.

Rather than functioning only as a policy forum, the initiative is designed to help participants showcase technologies, identify commercial opportunities and create partnerships capable of taking freight-electrification projects from planning to actual deployment.

The need for new financing and operational models was another major focus of the summit.

Road Transport and Highways Secretary V. Umashankar highlighted the importance of improving battery governance, charging-infrastructure finance and operating models for vehicles that typically cover long distances and remain in use for extended periods.

Battery health monitoring could become particularly important for electric commercial vehicles.

Reliable information on battery condition can improve transparency for fleet operators and lenders while helping establish more predictable resale values for used electric trucks.

Better visibility over battery degradation could therefore reduce financing risk and make it easier for lenders to evaluate the long-term economics of electric freight vehicles.

The summit’s technical discussions also examined ways to de-risk investments, improve charging availability and develop policies suited to the operational realities of freight transport.

Unlike passenger electric vehicles, medium- and heavy-duty trucks often operate at high utilisation levels and along fixed logistics corridors. Their charging requirements are therefore substantially different and may require high-capacity charging stations located near freight terminals, industrial clusters, ports and highways.

A corridor-based deployment model could help concentrate early investment in areas where vehicle utilisation is highest.

The approach could also allow charging infrastructure and electric-truck fleets to expand together instead of developing independently.

This coordination is central to the broader objective of moving India’s electric freight market beyond small-scale pilot programmes toward commercially sustainable deployment.

The initiative also has implications for India’s wider energy and logistics strategy.

Road freight represents an important component of diesel consumption, making the electrification of commercial trucks potentially significant for reducing petroleum dependence and strengthening energy security.

Electric trucks could also contribute to lower transport-sector emissions, particularly as renewable electricity accounts for a growing share of India’s power generation.

At the same time, successful adoption will depend on whether electric trucks can achieve competitive total operating costs compared with conventional diesel vehicles.

High annual mileage can potentially make commercial fleets well suited to electrification because savings in energy and maintenance costs accumulate more quickly. However, these benefits depend heavily on vehicle prices, financing costs, charging availability, battery durability and utilisation.

PACT is therefore designed to approach freight electrification as an ecosystem challenge rather than simply a vehicle-manufacturing issue.

By combining aggregated freight demand with financing, charging infrastructure and vehicle supply, NITI Aayog is seeking to create clearer commercial pathways for large-scale deployment.

The e-FAST India initiative itself brings together government agencies and companies across the freight ecosystem, including original equipment manufacturers, logistics service providers, shippers, financiers and charge point operators.

With PACT and the ZET Marketplace, the platform is now shifting its emphasis from building awareness and market readiness toward enabling actual deployment.

If demand aggregation and corridor planning succeed in creating viable operating clusters, they could help accelerate the adoption of electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks across some of India’s busiest freight routes.

The larger objective is to create a scalable zero-emission freight ecosystem in which vehicle deployment, charging infrastructure, finance and logistics operations develop together.

Such an ecosystem could improve logistics efficiency, reduce dependence on imported fuels, support India’s domestic electric-vehicle industry and contribute to the country’s broader transition toward cleaner transport.

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