With the wave of electric mobility, the government is focused on reducing the carbon emissions from vehicles of every category. Apart from building robust charging infrastructure in India, the government is also participating in developing the passenger carrier system, alongside. As buses and trucks contribute to carbon emissions too, an electric buses tender for 5450 electric buses was floated by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) under the FAME II Scheme.
This tender was opened by Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) and these 5450 electric buses would cater to the needs of Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Surat. There were many commercial vehicle manufacturers which took part in this tender like Tata Motors, Switch Mobility ( Ashok Leyland's EV division), Evey Trans (Olectra Group) and VECV ( a joint venture of the Volvo Group and Eicher Motors). Out of all these manufacturers, Tata Motors managed to become the lowest bidders of all. Tata Motors will supply all these 5440 electric buses to the organisation for under Rs. 5000 crores. The margin difference between the L1 and L2 bidders in all categories was just Rs. 10.
This bidding comprised of five different categories catering to a wide variety of applications and travel circuits, namely, 12 meter low floor AC, 12 meter low floor non AC, 12 meter standard floor non AC, 9 meter standard floor AC and 9 meter standard floor non AC. As per the bid by Tata Motors for this tender, they quoted a price which was the lowest ever and the operational costs of their electric buses were almost at par with the cost of diesel buses. The prices quoted are as follows:
- 12 meter low floor AC buses at Rs. 47.49 per kilometre
- 12 meter standard floor AC buses at Rs. 44.99 per kilometre
- 12 meter low floor non AC buses at Rs. 43.49 per kilometre
- 9 meter standard floor AC buses at Rs. 41.45 per kilometre
- 9 meter standard floor non AC buses at Rs. 39.21 per kilometre
All the prices quoted by Tata Motors also include the cost of electricity for charging. the bids had a tough competition with a variation of not more than Rs. 10 per kilometre in each category. All these buses would fall into the FAME II subsidy category which is offered by the Government of India which in turn will relate to Rs. 361 crores to procure additional electric buses.
Also Read: Prime Minister Narender Modi Allocates 150 Olectra Electric Buses Dedicated To Pune Public Transport
Electric buses are a great initiative on the whole. The term of the contract as per the tender is twelve years with an assured ten lakh kilometres of mileage per bus. As per the calculations by Tata Motors, this decision can prove to be one of the most efficient policies as the electric buses would save 1.888 billion litres of fossil fuel. As these buses would drive for more than 4.71 billion kilometres in this time span, there will also be a massive reduction of 3.31 million tons of CO2 tailpipe emissions, thus proving to be a game changer over the years. In terms of employability, this opportunity will also serve a total of 25000 job opportunities out of which ten per cent would be reserved specially for females.
Also Read: 100 Per cent Electric Bus JBM ECO-LIFE Flagged For Trial Run in Delhi
So, what do you think about this Electric Buses Tender opened by Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI)? 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!
