With the wave of electric mobility, the government plans to introduce environmental friendly mobility for the passenger carrier segment as well. In the recent days, Tata Motors was finalised to supply electric buses worth Rs. 5000 crore to the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) under the FAME II Scheme as a part of this initiative. This tender was floated to cater to the needs of the metropolitan cities and now the government plans to shift their focus towards introducing electric buses in smaller cities as well.
Tata Motors would be supplying 5450 electric buses to serve cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Surat. There were many commercial vehicle manufacturers which took part in this tender and the margin difference between the L1 and L2 bidders in all categories was just Rs. 10. This overwhelming response from the Indian commercial vehicle manufacturing sector has boosted the confidence and set up an aspirational front. Therefore, the authorities at Niti Aayog claimed that the Union Government is planning to float another tender to procure a massive number of ten thousand electric buses for the passenger mobility purposes.
This plan was announced at an opening session in a seminar on 'Understanding Investment, trade, and Battery Waste Management Linkages for a Globally Competitive EV manufacturing Sector'. As the number of bidders and the quotations submitted by all participants in the previous tender were competitive enough, they have decided to take this initiative further to introduce this sustainable mobility for the masses. This time, the authorities would focus on tier - II and small 9 meter buses. However, any concrete timeline to announce this upcoming tender has not been disclosed as of now.
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All the buses procured under this tender would also benefit from the central government subsidy offered under the remodelled FAME II scheme which is actively administered by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). As the running costs of electric buses are almost equivalent to that of the ones with internal combustion engines, national subsidies for different segments would also open up the scope to utilise funds of up to Rs 361 crore to add up more electric buses to the existing lineup.
Also Read: Tata Motors Wins Electric Buses Tender Worth Rs. 5000 Crore
So, what do you think about this new tender for Electric Buses in smaller cities? Share your views in the comment section. Let's get into a discussion with this in our 91Wheels Telegram and 91Wheels Whatsapp group, where you can know more about vehicles, conduct discussions on your favourite ride, and much more! You can also subscribe to our Youtube channel for our exclusive video content on the latest from the world of cars and motorcycles. Also, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for more about vehicles!
