Govt. of India plans mega tenders for procurement of 50,000 electric buses

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): To fulfill the demand for electric buses on Indian roads, Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) is planning to procure about 50,000 electric buses within one year. The decision came after the grand success of its mega 5,450 electric bus tender last month which received an enthusiastic response from the industry and realized a cost reduction of 40% over diesel and 34% over CNG buses.

"We have state transport undertakings (STUs) at the back being incentivised and encouraged to come up with large orders for us. The bigger the lot size, the lower the price expectation," said Mahua Acharya, Managing Director & Cheif Executive Officer, CESL, which is spearheading the process.

"The next step is to take it a few notches higher to a scale that is roughly 10 times the grand challenge. The government is looking at 50,000 buses being deployed over the next 5-7 years and this time it will not be restricted to just the top 5-7 cities but to smaller towns across the country," she said.

The Government of India has been backing electric mobility for quite some time, CESL's parent body EESL's attempts at cracking the electric car a few years back was a damp squib.

In electric buses, however, the success of the grand challenge is seen as a tipping point. For one, the numbers aren't small. For context, in fiscal 2022, around 30,000 buses were sold in the country. More importantly, though, the bids that were achieved show electric buses do not need subsidies to compete with diesel or CNG.

This step will also fulfill India's mission to get carbon neutrality by 2070.