DRIVN, an electric commercial vehicle leasing platform, and Prasanna Purple Mobility Solutions Private Limited (Purple Bus), a leading private intercity bus operator in India, have expanded their electric bus partnership, taking their total committed fleet to 276 buses.
Under the expanded partnership, DRIVN will support Purple Bus through its asset-light operating lease model and technology for fleet utilization optimization. The arrangement aims to enable Purple Bus to scale its electric intercity bus operations across key corridors in India while supporting the widespread adoption of electric mobility in passenger transportation.
The companies’ first agreement covered 100 electric buses across major intercity corridors in the south and west of India, including Mumbai-Pune, Bengaluru-Chennai and Hyderabad-Vijayawada. Under the new LOI, the total commitment will increase to 276 buses, which will include additional routes such as Nagpur-Chandrapur, Nagpur-Amaravati, Bengaluru-Tirupati and many other carefully selected routes.
DRIVN’s route intelligence, real-time vehicle and battery data, and fleet performance insights help assess route feasibility and will enable optimization of fleet deployment as this strategic partnership scales.
Purple Bus will leverage DRIVN’s proprietary technology through a full-stack electric fleet model, including asset financing and leasing, charging infrastructure, battery and asset-health monitoring, fleet operations and lifecycle management. This integrated approach brings together the financial, operational and technology capabilities needed to grow the electric intercity fleet.
Alpana Jain, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, DRIVN, said, “Expanding our partnership with Purple Bus is an important milestone for us at DRIVN. Expanding the initial agreement from 100 buses to a commitment of 276 buses reflects the strength of the relationship we have built with the team. Our focus is to simplify the transition to electric commercial vehicles by bringing together the financing, vehicles and technical capabilities operators need to effectively run their fleets. We Look forward to continuing our work.” “Purple Bus requirements evolve.”
Saurabh P. Patwardhan, Director, Purple Bus, said, “Our experience with initial deployment has reinforced an important learning: scaling electric mobility requires not only putting more electric buses on the road, but also building the right ecosystem around them. The nearly three-fold increase in our partner commitment reflects our confidence in that vision and our intention to make electric mobility a larger part of our operations. DRIVN combines operational expertise with a strong technology platform, which “Using real-time data and insights into routes, vehicles and fleet performance, we believe this combination will be key to growing electric intercity mobility sustainably and efficiently.”
The extended commitment reflects the joint effort of both organizations to decarbonize intercity passenger mobility in India. By combining Purple Bus’s operational legacy with DRIVN’s tech-first leasing model, the two companies aim to create a scalable template for electrifying heavy commercial fleets across the country.