Transport Department Tenders For Operation of 575 Electric Buses in Delhi

Transport Department of Delhi has issued three RFQP’s for the operation of 575 electric buses in three clusters of the capital.

Transport Department of Delhi has issued three request for qualification and proposals (RFQP) for the operation of 575 electric buses (E-buses) in the capital. Three tenders have been issued by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) for RFQP of 275, 110, and 190 E-buses under the E1, E2, and E3 clusters respectively under the cluster scheme of GNCTD. As per the tender documents, the GNCTD has inducted 2,897 buses under the Cluster Program for the Operation of Private Stage Carriages services in Delhi.

Interested bidders can submit their bids by March 16, 2021. A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled for February 5, 2021, to address the concern raised by the prospective bidders. As per the tender, the E-buses should be low-floored, battery-powered, airconditioned private stage carriage vehicles under the cluster program of the GNCTD. 

Bidders are expected to submit an earnest money deposit of Rs. 17.25 crore as a Bid Security.

Upon submission of the Proposal, it would be considered that the Bidder has made the complete and careful examination and satisfied itself with all matters, information, various aspects of the Operation and execution of Private Stage Carriage Services in Cluster No. E1, E2, and E3, under the Bidding Documents, including the Concession Agreement, and performance of all its obligations hereunder including but not limited to:

• the Routes;
• existing facilities, depot details, and structures;
• the condition of the roads, traffic conditions, utilities, availability of water and power supply;
• conditions affecting transportation, access, disposal, handling, and storage of the materials;
• all other matters that might affect the Bidder’s performance under the terms of this RFQP Document.

GNCTD and the Department of Transport announced they would provide subsidies for the electric buses secured by the winning bidder. A 40 percent subsidy of the cost of the bus will be provided in line with Phase II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME II) program. 

Consequently, The Delhi government has been planning to build on an effective Electric Vehicles (EVs) charging infrastructure across the national capital for faster uptake of EVs, according to the Delhi EV Policy, 2020 targets 25 percent of all new vehicle registrations by 2024 to be Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). To encourage the rapid adoption of electric vehicles, the government is focusing on the “speedy rollout of Electric Vehicle charging Infrastructure in Delhi”. 

In September last year, Delhi Govt set up the meeting of the ‘Working Group on Accelerated Rollout of Charging Infrastructure in Delhi’. Where, in the first meeting, the members had agreed that the Delhi Transco Limited (DTL) as the State Nodal Agency for EVs will pool government land parcels and integrate a state-wise tender to install charging stations across the city of Delhi. Simultaneously, DTL and Delhi Discoms (BSES, TP-DDL) will also conduct a joint survey of the land parcels to identify sites for Priority 1 of the tendering process.

However, in the second meeting, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot emphasized the issue to discuss the status of identification of potential land sites owned by government departments or agencies for setting up EV charging infrastructure in the city. 

He said “Delhi has the distinction of having the maximum number of different land-owning agencies. We understand how crucial making an EV friendly ecosystem is to the effective implementation of this policy, and I am happy to note that all these land-owning agencies are aligned to the Delhi government and our CMs vision of Delhi the EV capital of India.”