Vijayawada becomes first city in India to Deploy Smart and Electric Waste Disposal System

Waste management is an important requirement for ecologically sustainable development. From densely populated cities to smaller rural communities, waste management systems keep our homes and communities free from unwanted clutter.
Government of Andhra Pradesh is first in India to adopt smart and electric waste disposal vehicles in the city of Vijayawada. The state’s Chief Minister, Mr Nara Chandra Babu Naidu inaugurated the deployment of pollution free electric auto-rickshaws with advanced hydraulic disposal system on 11th July 2017 at AP Secretariat. The vehicles have been supplied to the government by an electric vehicle manufacturing start-up, Gayam Motor Works.
Although these waste management services exist in nearly every community, the current operating standards have proven inefficient and highly resource-intensive. This inefficiency is largely due to outdated manual collection methods and logistical processes which lack efficient data-driven solutions.
“The city’s waste management system can now be monitored from a single location by officials at Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC). This initiative transforms public space waste management with mobile and cloud-connected system. Our fleet of electric vehicles communicates real-time status to software systems. Communities benefit from optimized & streamlined operations, beautified public spaces and reduced carbon footprint.” said Mr J Nivas, Commissioner of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.

With integration of new generation technology, municipal supervisors can now track several aspects such as waste pick up points, vehicle routes and disposal alerts from a single dashboard. This will improve per vehicle productivity, reduce non-compliance, and eliminate manual tracking for monitoring and escalation.
Replacing diesel autos with electric autos also mean zero fuel consumption and zero greenhouse gas emissions. Each diesel auto replaced will reduce about 35 tons of carbon emissions over a period of five years. As much as 200,000 tons of carbon emissions can be reduced by replacing 5000+ municipal disposal vehicles across the state with electric vehicles.
The running cost is now reduced from Rs.3.50/km to Rs.0.50/km, by replacing a diesel auto rickshaw with a GMW SmartAuto. It is with this forethought, the state government plans to scale these smart and electric vehicles to other municipalities in the state.
The state government has earlier deployed 100 electric bikes in the city of Visakhapatnam. It is very clear that the state is looking at aggressive state-wide electric vehicle deployments to enhance the urban experience without negative aesthetic and environmental impact.

About the Startup

Gayam Motor Works (GMW) produces most advanced Electric Bikes and SmartAutos. GMW was founded in 2010 with a vision to accelerate the world’s transition towards smart and sustainable mobility. The company is first in India to develop indigenous battery swapping technology for electric vehicles.

Team

Gayam Raja (CEO) did his Bachelors in IIIT-H and Masters in University College of London. Raja comes with more than 7 years of experience in automobile manufacturing and exports. He has opened up trading and sourcing relations with partners from 15+ countries. He exported more than 4000 vehicles to Asian and African countries.
Gayam Rahul (CTO) completed his Integrated Masters in Physics from University of Hyderabad (HCU). He worked in US in the clean energy space with companies such as Sun Electronics and Smith Electric. He developed commercial electric vehicles from scratch with industry leading features such as integrated cooling system, Quadra-Drive system (patented), smart-BMS battery monitoring system, which are essential for a future-proof design. He is currently working on developing ceramic super-capacitors which have the potential to replace batteries in electric vehicles, and have the added advantage of being charged in a few minutes instead of a few hours.
Sri Harsha B (COO) studied in reputed institutions such as IIIT-H and Stanford GSB. He comes with more than 6 years of experience in business development and marketing. He was part of the founding team for two internet start-ups. He is an active member in many start-up communities such as Startup Leadership Program, Founder Institute, and TiE.