The PM-eBus Sewa scheme to deploy 10,000 electric buses across India will take electric mobility to the grassroots level and boost localisation, automobile industry players said on Wednesday.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved ‘PM-eBus Sewa’ for augmenting city bus operations, under which priority will be given to cities having no organised bus service. Under the scheme, 10,000 e-buses will be deployed on a public-private partnership (PPP) model in 169 cities. Infrastructure will be upgraded in 181 cities under the green urban mobility initiatives at the total estimated cost pegged at Rs 57,613 crore, out of which support of Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the central government.
The scheme will support bus operations for 10 years. JBM Auto Vice Chairman and Managing Director Nishant Arya said the Cabinet’s decision for the deployment of 10,000 electric buses across major cities as also Union Territories, hill states and the northeast region will “truly take electric buses to the grassroots level pan India”. “This initiative will now really propel green public transportation and will aid the development and expansion of an EV ecosystem across the country. Finally, the momentum gained from this move will catapult India as the EV capital of the world,” he added.
Similarly, PMI Electro Mobility Solutions CEO Aanchal Jain termed the development as a “decisive and pathbreaking step” that will boost localisation in the e-bus domain and expand the much-needed ecosystem. “The priority given to cities which currently do not have organised buses will enhance the penetration of e-buses in the interiors of the country, and besides solving the problem of a reliable intra-city public transport system, will make it more sustainable by reducing carbon emissions and consequently improving the air quality,” Jain added.
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