Indian government to buy 10,000 electric cars from Tata Motors

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government on Friday said it will buy 10,000 electric cars from Tata Motors Ltd to start replacing petrol and diesel variants being used by its agencies.

They will be used to replace government cars over the next three to four years, a government statement said. The total number of vehicles used by government agencies is around 500,000.

Tata Motors will supply the cars in two phases starting in November. Nissan and India's Mahindra & Mahindra had also bid for the contract.

India wants to promote the use of electric vehicles to curb carbon emissions and energy demand. The federal think tank in May laid out a 15-year roadmap for electrifying all new vehicles by 2030 and limiting the registration of petrol and diesel cars.

Electric vehicles remain expensive due to the high cost of batteries and automakers say lack of charging stations could make the plan unviable.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; editing by John Stonestreet)