New Delhi: State-owned Convergence Energy Services Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), on Tuesday said prices discovered for 6,465 electric bus tender were 29% lower than the cost of running diesel buses.
This was the first tender under the National Electric Bus Programme (NEBP). The lowest price discovered for a 12-meter bus (intra-city) is Rs. 54.3/km, & 12-meter bus (inter-city) is Rs. 39.8/km.
For a 9-meter bus, price discovered is Rs. 54.46/km and a 7-meter bus is Rs. 61.92/km. The prices do not include a subsidy and are 29% lower than what it costs to operate diesel buses.
The unified tender constitutes demand for electric buses from Delhi, Telangana, Haryana, Surat (Gujarat), Kerala & Arunachal Pradesh, according to a statement .
“As always, I really appreciate the participation of so many players in this tender, and the leadership shown by the states to deploy electric buses. This is a remarkable step in helping to transform our state transport authorities and build out a new market for electric mobility in India. Of course, a tender such as this is also witness to the commitment of the country in achieving the goals set by the Prime Minister to mitigate climate change and better the quality of life of our citizens,” said Mahua Acharya, MD & CEO, CESL.
“This tender is a part of the central government’s vision to deploy 50,000 electric buses on the roads in the next few years, whilst strengthening, modernising and greening public transport in India,” she added.
Electric buses will be deployed both within city limits and on intercity routes, with the latter being able to do 325 kms on a single charge.
This contract will benefit from terms and conditions standardised through the Grand Challenge process and will be eligible to gain from a payment security fund currently under consideration by the government, it said.
The value of the tender is over ₹30,800 crore. The buses are expected to run around 5,718 million kilometres over 12 years, saving 1,842 million litres of fossil fuel.
This will result in 4.62 million tonne of CO2e from tailpipe emissions, a major step towards mitigating climate change.
Under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model, the private operator brings the bus and operates it for a period of 10 and 12 years against pre-determined conditions as set out in the tender. State transport utilities on their part pay a fee for the bus service.
CESL was mandated by NITI Aayog under the then CEO, Amitabh Kant, to implement a national programme of 50,000 eBuses.
Source: PTI
