PM eBus Sewa: Tenders for 3,000 electric buses for small cities soon

As per the guidelines issued by the ministry, the scheme will prioritise smaller cities that lack public transport facilities. The buses will be procured under public-private partnership (PPP) and the government will give a per kilometre payment to the operators. According to officials, the first tender for buses under PM e-Bus Sewa is likely to be issued soon.

Addressing the inauguration of the 16th Urban Mobility India Conference here, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said the PM e-Bus Sewa would also help cities with creating depots and power infrastructure.

Inaugurated the 16th UMI Conference & Exhibition 2023 & interacted with urban mobility professionals & stakeholders of the sector on the emphasis being laid on the process of urbanisation & urban transport under the visionary leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji.@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/XoaPoVw3IF

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 27, 2023

He said the Metro networks in the country had reached 895 km and would surpass the United States in the coming two-three years to become the second largest in the world, after China. “I am happy to note that the metro network has a daily ridership of around 1 crore,” he said, adding that the ridership would increase with better last-mile connectivity.

Speaking on Delhi-Meerut Namo Bharat RRTS train, Puri said he had received feedback from those who travel from Meerut to Delhi for work that the recently launched train has reduced travel time to 50 minutes from three hours.

The PM e-Bus Sewa had found a mention in the India-United States joint statement released after the meeting of US President Joe Biden with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in September. The statement said that India and the US would work together on a payment security mechanism for the electric bus scheme.

“Reiterating the importance of decarbonising the transport sector, the leaders welcomed progress to expand electric mobility in India, including joint support for a payment security mechanism financed through both public and private funds. This will accelerate the procurement of 10,000 made-in India electric buses including those for the Indian PM e-Bus Sewa programme that will include the associated charging infrastructure,” the joint statement read.