The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a bus scheme “PM-eBus Sewa” for augmenting city bus operation by 10,000 e-buses on PPP model. The Scheme would have an estimated cost of 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.
The scheme will cover cities of 3 lakh and above population as per census 2011 including all the Capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States. Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organised bus service.
The scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation. Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman and MD, JBM Auto said that this government decision is a momentous one that “sees e-mobility as a necessity for much of India and especially at a time when the country has committed towards being Net Zero by 2070 and is presiding G-20. 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.”
Dr. Aanchal Jain, CEO, PMI Electro Mobility Solutions Private Limited, noted, “We at PMI Electro welcome this decisive and pathbreaking step. The cabinet approval to the decision on the deployment of 10,000 electric buses will boost localization in the e-bus domain and expand the much needed ecosystem. This strengthens and reaffirms the Prime Minister's vision to make India a net zero nation by 2070. The priority given to cities which currently do not have organized buses will enhance the penetration of e-buses in Tier 2, Tier 3 towns 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”.
The Scheme has two segments:
Segment A – Augmenting the City bus services: (169 cities)
The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities)
The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
Support for Operation: Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators. The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.
Boost to E-Mobility: The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure. Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.
The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.
This scheme shall also bring in economies of scale for procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses. Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission. Modal shift due to increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to GHG reduction, the government release said.