New Delhi: The rapid growth of quick commerce, food delivery and bike taxis is turning India's electric two-wheeler—largely scooter—fleet market into a new battleground for manufacturers. Bajaj Auto and Ola Electric have signalled greater interest in the segment, while Vietnam's VinFast is exploring an entry into a market largely served by startups and Chinese scooter imports.
The electric commercial fleet market in two-wheelers, divided between high speed and unregulated slow-speed scooters, is increasingly attracting attention in the country's booming gig economy.
VinFast is exploring fleet deployments to establish an early foothold in India, according to an executive in the know. The company has already set up battery-swapping stations in the National Capital Region, where a user can replace an exhausted battery with a fully-charged one, and a spokesperson said it is exploring a strategy of targeting fleet operators alongside retail customers.
“VinFast has a broad portfolio of electric two-wheelers that caters to the needs of both individual consumers and B2B customers. We are carefully evaluating the market and will share more details about our product lineup and market strategy at the appropriate time” the spokesperson told Mint.
The Vietnamese company has committed over $500 million in investments for expansion of its business in India beyond cars to two-wheelers and buses.
In its home market, the company has taped models such as the Evo 200 and Feliz S to gain a footing in the delivery and ride-hailing market in the two-wheeler segment.
Among domestic manufacturers, India's fourth largest two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto, which has a presence in the slow-speed electric scooter market through a manufacturing and product development partnership with Yulu, highlighted the fast growing segment in its latest annual report. Bajaj has an 18% stake in the firm.
“In FY2026, Yulu Bikes deployed approximately 48,000 electric two-wheelers, delivering 36% YoY revenue growth driven by fleet expansion and improved utilization. Notably, it has achieved Ebitda profitability during the year,” Bajaj said in the FY26 annual report. Bajaj manufactures Yulu's products at its plant in Chakan, off Pune.
“Looking ahead, Yulu Bikes plans to scale rapidly by expanding its geographic footprint and diversifying its product offerings,” the company added. Yulu looks to double its fleet size in the current financial year.
The comments from both the companies came after Ola Electric chairman and managing director Bhavish Aggarwal recently said that rising fuel costs have prompted many gig workers to express demand for its electric scooters, flagging the need for cost-efficient models.
“With the fuel price rise, seeing a lot of demand for our EVs from the gig ecosystem. They need EVs the most as their daily run and fuel cost is the highest,” Aggarwal said in a 25 May post on X.
A second industry executive in the know said Ola Electric is looking to tap more B2B sales in a bid to boost its sales volumes that could include more bike taxi and delivery fleet vehicle sales.
To be sure, Ola Electric took a stab at the electric vehicle market for gig workers through a dedicated range in November 2024, but it remained a non-starter and was eventually delisted from the company's website.
With the company falling from the segment's number one position in 2024 to the fourth spot, efforts appear to have increased to find new avenues to enter in a bid to gain sales volumes.
While the company did not confirm to Mint whether it will indeed launch its dedicated gig worker products, reports suggest that the company has got a homologation certificate for a dedicated model for gig workers. Homologation refers to the official approval process for vehicle models to run on Indian roads.
Slow-speed scooters refer to those that have maximum speed capacity of 25km an hour and they do not require registration under Indian laws. These are used the most in quick commerce deliveries.
Data from InsightEV shows slow-speed scooters, largely imported from China, crossed the one million mark in the last calendar year.
High-speed scooters, on the other hand, are those that are typically in the 60-80 km an hour speed limits and can be deployed for dedicated bike taxi services, and food delivery.
According to experts, while four-wheeler manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Tata Motors PV have tried to crack sales in the fleet segment typically deployed through cabs, two-wheeler firms had yet not doubled down on the segment.
“With volumes growing at a rapid pace and a need for quality dedicated play in the commercial fleet space increases, some of these large manufacturers may want to expand their presence into the segment” said Ashim Sharma, senior partner at Nomura Research Institute.
Large automobile manufacturers warming up to the two-wheeler fleet segment comes as online platform driven segments such as food delivery and bike taxis prepare for high growth.
According to an estimate from analytics firm Imarc, the size of India's online food delivery market is set to increase from $55.58 billion in 2025 to $337.15 billion by 2034. With Rapido and Uber looking to expand in the bike taxi market, industry executives and companies expect a strong growth in the segment as well.