Centre promises subsidy, e-buses to roll out soon

BENGALURU: Induction of electric buses into the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) fleet is set to be expedited with the Centre agreeing in-principle to offer subsidy.
BMTC’s plan to procure 80 electric buses in the first phase was recently put on hold after the department of heavy industries (DHI) refused to provide subsidy to state road transport undertakings which induct electric buses on a lease basis.
Following the pressure from SRTUs like BMTC and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), the Centre has now decided to provide subsidy for both capital expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure (opex) models to induct electric buses.
BMTC officials said the Centre is expected to issue a revised notification in a few days. “We will go ahead with the plan to induct electric buses on a lease model once the notification is issued,” said BMTC managing director V Ponnuraj.
Under the capex model, SRTUs buy buses and the Centre shares 60% of the cost. The rest is borne by SRTUs. Under the lease model, the selected operators have to provide electric buses with qualified drivers and operate on routes provided by BMTC.
BMTC has decided to lease electric buses instead of purchasing them as the capital cost involved is Rs 2-3 crore per bus. Hyderabad-based Goldstone Infratech Limited has quoted Rs 37.50 per km and Rs 24.50 per km for AC and non-AC electric buses respectively.
The corporation had planned to induct 40 battery-run buses in the first phase by August but the process is likely to delayed because of the Centre’s U-turn on subsidy for the opex model. BMTC is planning to operate the vehicles on long-distance routes like the airport and ring roads. E-buses can travel up to 200km when fully charged; the selected firm will set up charging infrastructure at major bus terminals.
Meanwhile, KSRTC is planning to purchase 50 electric buses under the capex model as it has more financial stability than BMTC. KSRTC is considering operating electric buses on inter-city routes from Mysuru to places like Bengaluru, Tumakuru, Hassan and Kolar.
In 2016, the BMTC board had given in-principle approval to induct 150 electric buses as part of an initiative to reduce vehicular emissions, noise pollution and fuel consumption. The buses will be inducted with financial assistance from the Centre under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme of National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020.