Modi Government To Stump Up A Share Of Rs 20,000 Cr for 10,000 E Buses

The Union government has pushed out a scheme to accelerate adoption of electric buses across 100 key cities in India. These cities, with a minimum population of 3 lac people or more, will cover all capital cities of hill states, North East States and Union Territories.

Cities lacking transport infrastructure will be at the front of the line for the Rs 57,613 crore scheme, where the central share is Rs 20,000 crore.

The “PM E-Bus Seva” scheme already has a shortlist of 169 cities, out of which 100 will be picked. States which scrap old buses will also be preferred. Procurement, operation and management of these buses will be done through PPP mode via competitive bidding.

The scheme envisages central assistance for every km in the scheme for ten years. The scheme is open to private players only, going by indications.

The government is hopeful that the scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation. The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.

Electric buses in India have had a slow start, thanks mainly to a high initial capital cost, and for want of a better word, poor charging facilities, particularly on highways. Even including charging infrastructure in the FAME 2 scheme to support e -mobility had had limited impact, with players happier to set up slow chargers more appropriate for smaller electric vehicles like 2 wheelers and autos. Many cities and towns including NOIDA in the NCR region still donot have a proper fast charger, per CEA figures as of March 2023.

Strengthening Bus based public transport is a no brainer for a country like India with its dense population and low per capita incomes. However, a combination of factors from political apathy to poor infrastructure has ensured poor public transport in most cities, forcing the kind of mindless move towards privately owned transportation in its major cities and towns. A massive push for city metros has helped a little, but even that falls short without a supporting bus transport system for last mile movement.