FCC

Government to Issue E-Bus Procurement for 9 Cities

2023-06-15

The federal government intends to issue an electric bus (e-bus) procurement to buy around 3,500 new e-buses for nine cities with populations above 4 million.

The move comes a month after the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) decided to increase financing support for e-buses from Rs 35.45 billion to Rs 43.7 billion. In May, the ministry reduced subsidies for three-wheelers, four-wheelers, and charging infrastructure as part of a major overhaul of the 10,000-crore Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) incentive scheme.

“This month, we had two consultation rounds with state/city transport undertakings (STUs) and have asked them to submit details of their e-buses requirements,” said a top government official, adding, “the tender will come soon as we are expecting STUs to submit details from these cities within a month.”

The cities included in the plan include Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, and Pune. The new procurement will be funded by diverted cash, savings from competitive bidding in previous tenders, and money that left unused after a few STUs cancelled purchases.

Apart from the Rs 7.62 billion redirected to the e-bus category, the government saved Rs 5.36 billion through competitive bidding in the previous tender of the state-owned Convergence Energy Services (CESL). Furthermore, STUs cancelled orders for 348 buses, and the fund stays unused.