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The Green Solution to the Urban Transport System  

Salient Features:
Removal of Drudgery & hardship of the rickshaw pullers
Dual Drive: Manual & Solar Power Assisted
Speed matching any vehicle in downtown 
Batteries charged from solar charging station by battery swapping mechanism. 
Aesthetic look
Lower foot board
Ease of mounting of driver
Suspension system for comfort of passenger

An Overview:

SOLECKSHAW is an eco-friendly tricycle. It is driven partly by pedal and partly by electric power supplied a battery that is charged from solar energy. SOLECKSHAW is a brain child of Director General of CSIR, Prof. Samir K Brahmachari. SOLECKSHAW has been developed by a team of scientists at CSIR national laboratory, CMERI under the design leadership of Mr. Palash Maji and and Mr. P.S. Banerjee. The entire effort related to manufacturing was spearheaded by Mr. A.J. Banerjee and Mr. Sankar Karmakar. As such Mr. A.J. Banerjee is currently leading the SOLECKSHAW group within CSIR-CMERI. CSIR-CMERI has transferred the technology to the following companies:

M/s Modular Machines
16/2, Karkhana Bagh,
Mathura Road,
Faridabad (Haryana) 121 002
Fax No: 0129-2227079
Mobile No: 09810829404
E.mail: modularmachines@gmail.com / avbhatnagar@yahoo.com

M/s HBL Power Systems Limited
8-2-601, Road No 10,
Banjara Hills,
Hyderabad-500 034
Mobile No: 09958798546
E.mail: anilsahoo@hbl.in

M/s DEAN Systems
New Green Park, Narendrapur,
Kolkata 700103
Telephone: 033-24773375
Fax No: 033-24770627
Mobile No: 09331841091/ 9432745125
E.mail: dean01@vsnl.net / deansystems01@gmail.com  

M/s Stilam Automobiles Pvt Ltd.
475, Udyog bihar, Phase-V
Gurgaon, Haryana
Mobile No: +91-9871027084, +91-9717030095
Phone No: +91 124 6768600
E.mail: sales@stilam.net , info@stilam.net
Works: Plot No 16, Sector 27C, Industrial Area
Faridabad,Haryana India
+91-0129-413 5200,413 6200, 412 8300
info@stilam.net

Presently, M/s Stilam Automobiles Pvt Ltd and M/s HBL Power Systems Limited have developed the necessary production line for Soleckshaw, at their works and both of them are in a position to manufacture and deliver Soleckshaws on commercial basis. Few such products are already on road (under trial run basis) for users’ feedback at Noida, Gurgaon and Jaipur.

The deployment of SOLECKSHAW on a large scale in a faster mode is necessary to ensure its acceptability in the society, at large. However, the end-users of SOLECKSHAW are financially handicapped and not exposed to modern science and technology, which is a major hindrance in deploying this technology. So, NGOs have to play a major role in deployment of Soleckshaws to the grassroots level and towards generation of awareness about the benefits of this new technology among passengers and rickshaw pullers – by utilizing financial support from Government.

The rickshaw pullers are highly interested in owning SOLECKSHAW, to lead a life of less drudgery better societal respect. CSIR–CMERI has completed the development and transfer of technology successfully. CSIR-CMERI is working on further improvement of SOLECKSHAW, under the leadership of Mr. A.J. Banerjee so that the vehicle can be fully battery powered yet consuming much less amount of energy. Presently, the market response of this product is also very much enthusiastic and thus more entrepreneurs are ready to take this technology for commercialization. In order to bring this technology into full fledged commercialization stage, financial facilitation to the end-users (Rickshaw pullers) and the technical support of NGOs to the licensee are required from Government side, in a major way. Govt of UP has placed an order for 400 Soleckshaws to HBL Power Systems Limited.

In another developmental initiative of CSIR-CMERI, Shri Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology launched an environment-friendly postal delivery vehicle, "Postal Soleckshaw" in New Delhi on July 9, 2010. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that it is the endeavor of the Ministry to use green technology for delivering services in efficient and eco-friendly manner. He said that this effort is a step forward towards the Government's efforts to modernize and digitize the India Post Services under Project Arrow. Availability of this vehicle would add to the efficiency of postal agents and would also give them a sense of pride.

As a pilot project, Postal Soleckshaw has been introduced in some post offices in the city of Ajmer in December 2010. Dr. H. S. Maiti, Senior Adviser to DG-CSIR took a major lead in the implementation of this project. Shri Sachin Pilot mentioned that the Ministry would evaluate the performance of the vehicle within few months and would explore the possibility of its expansion on a much larger scale.

Postal Soleckshaw has been manufactured by M/s Kinetic Motors in association with CSIR-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI). The vehicle has been redesigned and developed based on the basic ideas of original Soleckshaw specifically suitable as a light delivery vehicle, particularly useful for delivery of post, parcels and other postal services both in urban and rural areas.

A Postman is likely to carry more parcels for delivery than ordinary mails. A survey done by Kinetic Motors in Pune found that each postman covers an area of around 40-45 kms and carries an average weight of 10-15 kgs per day.

Mrs Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Managing Director of Kinetic Motors informed that her company has started preparing production schedule for the wider utilization of Postal Soleckshaw. Kinetic Motors will deploy its resources in the areas of engineering, development and testing of various prototypes, demonstration of potential partners, market research and also identifying the supply chain for commercialization and finally putting together the manufacturing and servicing facilities.

The cost of a SOLECKSHAW is quite moderate whereas setting up a solar charging station is quite involved. CEL (Central Electronics Limited), India is authorized to set up such stations in India. INSILICA, Calcutta is also ready for setting up Solar Charging Stations. Some companies are also trying to add a solar panel with the SOLECKSHAW itself. Usually a (1 m X 1.5 m) panel is capable of producing 300 W. A SOLECKSHAW needs about 250 W of electric power. The most interesting part is that all the latest versions of SOLECHSHAW can be recharged by usual electric power as well. Even if it is used as an Electric Vehicle, it will keep helping the downtrodden (Rickshaw Pullers) and maintain the Green Environment.

Interested licensees may contact : -

Dr. B.N. Mondal
Scientist F and Head, Research Planning & Business Development Group
Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute
(Council of Scientific & Industrial Research)
M.G. Avenue, Durgapur - 713 209
Dist - Burdwan; West Bengal, INDIA 
Ph : +91-343–6510218 (Off), +91-943433-3054 (Mobile)
Fax:+91-343-2546745 / 2548204
E-mail id: pme@cmeri.res.in or bnmondal@cmeri.res.in