Get luxury e-buses financed by banks for inter-city service, pay daily EMI from revenue: Gadkari to states

This model can effectively address the issue of procuring expensive buses, solve connectivity woes and make the state transport corporations profitable, Gadkari reportedly said.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, in his recent meeting with the state transport ministers, shared a new model for increasing the fleet of luxury electric buses, a report said on April 24.

Gadkari advised them to get the high-standard e-buses financed from banks or financial institutions, and pay the equated monthly installments (EMIs) on daily basis using the revenue mopped up through operating them, the Times of India report said.

The e-buses should be deployed for inter-city connectivity, the minister reportedly suggested.

Gadkari told the state ministers that this model can effectively address the issue of procuring expensive buses, solve connectivity woes and make the state transport corporations profitable, sources privy to the development told the newspaper.

Some of the state ministers showed interest in Gadkari’s suggestion, and would consider procuring the e-buses through the model he recommended, the sources added.

“The state transport corporations are not in good shape to procure buses. So, they can get such buses financed and pay back the instalments daily, weekly or monthly,” an official aware of the discussions was quoted as saying.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news.

E-buses, which are environment-friendly and also considered to be cost-effective, are increasingly being used by state governments across the country.

As per the Centre’s National Electric Bus Programme, the plan is to deploy 50,000 e-buses nationwide, in tranches over the next four-to-five years, at an estimated cost of $12 billion.

Source: PTI