Bengaluru to get 1500 e-buses under Centre’s ‘Grand e-Mobility Challenge’

If all goes to plan, Bengaluru will get 1,500 electric buses under the Centre’s ‘Grand Challenge’ plan. Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), a PSU under the Union ministry of power, recently unveiled a tender worth Rs 5,500 crore to induct 5,580 e-buses (5,450 single-decker and 130 double-decker ones) across the country.

Bengaluru is expected to get 1,500 e-buses under the scheme. While Kolkata will get the maximum number of e-buses (2,000), Delhi will also get 1,500, while Hyderabad and Surat will get 300 and Surat 150, respectively.

The grand challenge was open to nine cities (with a population of more than 4 million) but only these five got into the final list. CESL officials said the cities will have to induct e-buses between July 2022 and March 2024. “This will help reduce the operating costs for cities and remove bottlenecks in procuring e-buses by state transport undertakings,” said a CESL official.

However, BMTC officials are more keen on purchasing e-buses. BMTC managing director V Anbu Kumar told a national daily: “We are planning to induct 1,500 12m non-AC low-floor buses in the next three years. We want to purchase these buses instead of having a lease model. We have better, experienced drivers and staff than private firms. We are in discussions with CESL on this.” He added that there is no demand for AC buses after Covid-19.

The Centre’s subsidy component is around Rs 55 lakh per bus, but the state government has not committed on the subsidy part so far.

With 1,500 e-buses, BMTC will have a total of 1,890 battery-run buses. The remaining 390 e-buses are 90 mini-electric buses (9m long) and 300 electric buses (12m long).

Of the 90 mini-electric buses being inducted from NTPC-JBM under the Bengaluru Smart City funds, 60 have already reached the city. “The remaining 30 will arrive from JBM Auto’s plant from Kosi Kalan, near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, by the end of this month,” a senior BMTC official said.

NTPC-JBM will operate these buses for 10 years on a gross cost contract (GCC) model at a rate of Rs 51.67 per km with electricity assured for 180km daily.

However, all 90 e-buses will be operational only by the end of February. “We had plans to set up charging infrastructure at three depots: Kengeri, Yeshwantpur, and KR Puram. The charging station at Kengeri is ready and installation is progressing at Yeshwantpur. All 90 e-buses will be deployed on Metro feeder routes once all charging stations are ready,” an official said.

Separately, BMTC recently issued a work order to Ashok Leyland to provide 300 e-buses under the Centre’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India II scheme. These buses will also arrive in Bengaluru in the next six months. The first prototype of the bus will come by March. Switch Mobility, the electric vehicle arm of Ashok Leyland, will run these buses at Rs 48.95pkm for 12 years. The 12m e-buses inducted under FAME II will have a seating capacity of 41.

Experts say induction of e-buses is likely to reduce environmental pollution and operational costs given the soaring diesel prices. Under the GCC or lease model, BMTC will pay private firms on a per-km basis. The firms will deploy a driver and take care of the fleet’s operations and maintenance. However, BMTC will deploy the conductor and the fare will be the same as that aboard diesel non-AC buses.

BMTC has decided to replace its scrapped buses with e-buses. “We are scrapping an average of 400 buses a year. We are planning to induct 600 e-buses a year and 30-40% passengers will use them,” an official said.