Tenders for 150 Electric Buses Issued in Rajasthan

RSRTC and JCTSL have issued RfPs for the selection of operators for procurement and operation of a total of 150 electric buses in Rajasthan

The Rajasthan State Road Transport Co (RSRTC) and the Jaipur City Transport Services Ltd (JCTSL) have issued a request for proposals (RfP) inviting bids and proposals for the selection of operators for procurement and operation of a total of 150 electric buses in the state.

The RfP issued by the RSRTC is for the selection of bus operators for the procurement, operation, and maintenance of 50 AC electric-powered buses under the second phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India (FAME II) scheme.

The last date for bid submissions is October 21, 2019, and the selected bidders will be provided with the demand incentives under the FAME-II scheme by RSRTC. Interested bidders are required to pay a sum of Rs 50,000 towards the bid processing fee, and a sum of Rs 1.5 crore as bid security amount.

According to the RfP, the buses must be 12 meters long and should have a minimum range of 300 km on a single charge with a full load. The buses will be operated on interstate and intercity routes.

The scope of work will include the manufacturing and supply of electric buses, carrying out preventive and breakdown maintenance of buses, and operation of the buses on the routes specified by RSRTC. The work will also include developing and maintenance of the charging infrastructure. RSRTC will cover the cost of the power consumed for the charging of the buses.

The RfP issued by the JCTSL is seeking bids for the supply, operation, and maintenance of 100 fully built ac electric buses on build, own, operate, and transfer (BOOT) basis. The last date for the submission of bids is October 24, 2019, and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 175 crore over ten years of operation.

This project will also be under the Fame II scheme and will be operated on the OPEX model. Since bidding is based on gross cost contract, the rate quoted by the bidder will be on per km basis, and the entire cost of charging infrastructure, including the cost of charging equipment, transformer, and other expenses for installation of charging infrastructure will have to be incurred by the operator.