CJ Darcl, NHEV partner to evaluate heavy electric freight network
The collaboration will begin with the Bengaluru–Chennai corridor and includes charging infrastructure, battery swapping, logistics hubs and fleet operations.
L to R: Nikhil Agarwal, President, CJ Darcl Logistics and Abhijeet Sinha, Program Director, Ease of Doing Business & National Highways for EV
CJ Darcl Logistics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with National Highways for Electric Vehicles (NHEV) under the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) programme to evaluate the commercial viability of deploying heavy electric vehicle (HEV) freight operations on NHEV's upcoming E-highways. The partnership aims to support India's transition towards low-carbon and future-ready logistics.
The collaboration brings together CJ Darcl's multimodal logistics expertise and NHEV's integrated 3G Energy Stations, which provide captive EV charging, battery swapping infrastructure, solar power integration, dedicated warehousing and strategically located logistics hubs. These capabilities are expected to improve fleet utilisation, enhance operational efficiency and reduce freight emissions across key logistics corridors.
Under the agreement, CJ Darcl and NHEV will jointly develop 3G charging infrastructure and own a fleet of heavy electric trucks to operate freight services on NHEV's Zero Emissions Trucking (ZET) E-Highway. The Bengaluru–Chennai corridor has been selected as the pilot route for scalable heavy electric freight operations across the country.
"This partnership represents our commitment to sustainable logistics innovation, focusing on operational practicality. By collaborating with NHEV, we are not just adopting electric freight solutions, we are co-creating a scalable, commercially viable model that demonstrates how India's logistics industry can lead the global energy transition. The Bangalore-Chennai corridor is an ideal test bed for this transformation, and we are confident this will set the blueprint for national expansion," said Nikhil Agarwal, President, CJ Darcl Logistics.
Abhijeet Sinha, Program Director, Ease of Doing Business & National Highways for EV said, "CJ Darcl's scale and operational expertise make them an ideal anchor partner for NHEV, allowing us to examine, evaluate and assess HEV deployment in line with the infrastructure rollout. This MoU demonstrates how strategic collaboration between government-backed PPP initiatives to decarbonise mobility and industry leaders can unlock the potential of green highways. We look forward to piloting innovative models that will inspire other fleet operators to embrace electric mobility while becoming commercially sustainable."
As part of the partnership, CJ Darcl will work with professional Logistics Service Providers (LSPs) for fleet management, driver training and end-user development to enable operations to scale efficiently from the outset. Both organisations will also develop utilisation-assured operating models for heavy electric freight, identify OEM partners, establish operational standards, and advocate policy and infrastructure reforms to advance heavy electric freight mobility.
The MoU also includes an NCR trailer-exchange model that will enable seamless diesel-to-electric freight transitions at Delhi's borders, helping maintain supply continuity while supporting the wider adoption of electric freight mobility across India.
"A pay-per-use vehicle interchange model lowers barriers to EV adoption, improves operational efficiency, and provides a scalable blueprint for cleaner urban logistics," Agarwal concluded.
