10,000 E-Buses To Be Deployed On PPP Model In 169 Cities

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved PM-eBus Sewa scheme for augmenting city bus operation by 10,000 e-buses on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the government said in a statement.  

According to the government, the scheme would have an estimated cost of INR 57,613 crore, out of which support of INR 20,000 crore will be provided by the central government. The scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.

“The scheme will cover cities of 3 lakh and above population as per census 2011 including all the capital cities of union territories, north eastern region and hill states. Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organised bus service,” the cabinet which was presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said.

According to the statement, the scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation.  The Scheme has two segments including augmenting the city bus services: (169 cities) under which the scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on PPP model. Associated infrastructure will provide support for development and up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure for e-buses.

Under second segment -- Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities), the scheme will envisage green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based automated fare collection systems, charging infrastructure among others.

Under the scheme, states and cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators.  The central government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.

As per the government, the scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure.

“Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives,” it added.

The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.

“Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission while modal shift due to increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction,” the government said in a statement.