The all-women rally, which covers 3333km in 30 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, aims to promote livelihoods for women as electric auto-rickshaw drivers.
HYDERABAD, India, March 12, 2024 -- ETO Motors, India's largest Electric Mobility as a Service (EMaaS) Company; the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI); and MOWO Social Initiatives, a social enterprise committed to empowering women with mobility as a skill, launched India's first all-women electric 3-wheeler rally 'ETOwali', which will traverse the length of the country from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
The 'ETOwali' rally will have an 8-member crew driving electric 3-wheelers (e3Ws), an electric motorcycle and an electric SUV, covering 3333 kilometres in 30 days. The rally will be flagged off from Kanyakumari and will travel through Madurai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Indore, Jaipur, and Delhi, culminating in Jammu. The 'ETOwali' rally aims to raise awareness about electric vehicles and how electric 3-wheelers are the optimal employment opportunity for women looking for a stable livelihood.
As part of the 'ETOwali' programme, with support from various State Transport and Women Welfare Ministries, the crew will conduct curated awareness workshops. These workshops will help in driving awareness about EVs and how women can become micro entrepreneurs through auto driving, with the flexibility of choosing working hours and increasing their earning capabilities.
The e3Ws are manufactured by Saera KETO in their state-of-art manufacturing capacities in Jadcherla (Telangana) and Bawal (Haryana) and boast pioneering design and cutting-edge features, including Fast Charge technology, a Vehicle Control Unit (VCU), and top-tier safety and comfort for drivers and passengers alike.
Speaking at the flag-off of ETOwali, Surender Nath, Director, ETO Motors, said, "We are thrilled to partner with MOWO and SIDBI. The 'ETOwali' programme is very closely aligned to 'ETO Empowers', our women empowerment programme, which aims at providing fair employment opportunities to drivers along with providing highly rewarding incentives & benefits, like health and life insurance coverage. 'ETOwali' has been specially curated to make women aware about electric 3-wheelers and the fact that that it provides safe and sustainable employment opportunities. The 'ETOwali' programme has a dual objective of raising awareness about EVs as also to provide various financing schemes that allow women drivers to own their own electric 3-wheelers."
The 'ETOwali' programme has been divided into phases. The first phase in March 2024 will focus on the women's rally and will drive awareness. The second phase will be the selection of 500 women who will be trained and provided with the necessary skills to drive e3Ws and to launch the services across multiple cities in India.
Speaking at the flag-off in Kanyakumari, the campaign lead Ms. Jai Bharathi, Founder MOWO Social Initiatives, said, "The 'ETOwali' programme is another significant step as we help, and train women drivers to confidently drive e3Ws. This will not only augment the role of women in the country's objective to reduce its carbon footprint but will also provide a source of livelihood to hundreds and thousands of women and, as a consequence, make our streets safer for women. MOWO is committed to creating a generation of confident women who are equipped with mobility as a skill for empowerment and employment, and this partnership with ETO Motors is a step in the right direction."
Ms. Jai Bharathi (JB) is an avid motorcyclist who has received various accolades and awards including the 'Vishishta Mahila Puraskaram' from the Govt of Telangana. JB has covered over 100,000 kilometers across India, South East Asia and the United States. She has been part of path-breaking motorcycling rides such as the 'Road to Mekong' (17000 Kms from India to Vietnam); 'Wheels of Will' (17380 kms across the United States of America); and 'Moving Boundaries' (11,111 kms across India).
ETO Motors, through its ETO Empowers Programme, has provided employment opportunities to women across the country. It currently has 1500+ e3Ws on its platform. Through this programme, ETO aims to provide fair employment opportunities to over five hundred women drivers, from across India, along with providing highly rewarding incentives & benefits, like health and life insurance coverage.
As part of the strategy to incentivize women drivers, ETO launched its Own-Your-ETO (OYE) Scheme. ETO Motors, through this scheme, hires driver partners and provides free unlimited charging at specially designated EV charging points being set up by ETO Motors; free vehicle maintenance by experts; and free driver partner insurance. Once they have partnered with ETO Motors for 36-months, the driver can become the owner of the vehicle after paying a written-down value.
Currently, ETO Motors partners with metro rails, like Delhi Metro, Nagpur Metro, Hyderabad Metro, and Pune Metro, for passenger first- and last-mile connectivity. It also has over 50 e3Ws in Kevadia, Gujarat, support tourists visiting the Statue of Unity. It is also driving growth in the passenger market through tie-ups with ride aggregators (Uber) and last mile delivery solutions for Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, Gati, DHL, Blue Dart, Bisleri, Shadowfax, BlowHorn, Exide etc.
About ETO Motors
ETO Motors is India's largest eMaaS (Electric Mobility as a Service) company with a fleet of over 1500 e3Ws (Electric Three Wheelers) under management. It has, though its experience and expertise in managing electric fleets, collaborated with multiple ecommerce, grocery, B2B companies — Amazon, Flipkart, Big Basket, Ikea — for their first- and last-mile connectivity.
It is also driving growth in passenger market through tie-ups with ride aggregators (Uber), last mile delivery solutions (Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, Gati, DHL, Blue Dart, Bisleri, Shadowfax, BlowHorn, Exide) and with metro rails like Delhi Metro, Nagpur Metro, Hyderabad Metro, Pune Metro for passenger first- and last-mile connectivity.
About MOWO
Established in 2019, MoWo Social Initiatives, led by the visionary motorcyclist Jai Bharathi, set out to revolutionize women's empowerment through mobility skills in India, with a three-fold focus on advocacy, motor training, and livelihoods. MoWo has trained 3500+ women by imparting 2W & 3W motor driving skills and played a pivotal role in establishing India's first Motor Training Centre exclusively for women, as technical partners to Dept of Women & Child Welfare, Govt of Telangana.
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