Bengaluru Will Get 100 Electric Buses Through Government Fund

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will propose purchasing 100 e-buses, which are probable to be entirely funded by the state government.

An official said that they are preparing a plan to buy a hundred buses, which will significantly help us understand the ergonomics of e-buses. In March, BMTC had called for EOI for supplying 1,500 electric buses. However, because of the effect of the model code of conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha election, they had to postpone the due date for the tender opening.

BMTC, as a result, will propose purchasing a hundred of electric buses. According to Deccan Herald, this proposal is now under planning. With the aim of determining the efficiency of these electric buses, BTMC will consider putting them into a trial.

D.C Thammanna, Transport Minister of Karnataka, opposed the plan to lease electric buses and decided to purchase them instead. The decision comes two months after BMTC lost about Rs 80 crore central grant approved for acquiring 80 e-buses.

The BMTC officials plan to bring back this aid from the Central Government through the first phase of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric vehicles (FAME). For this to succeed, they are depending on the reference for an act in the notification for Phase II.

According to the notification issued on March 11, projects Electric Buses sanctioned to different city or state transport corporation under FAME India Phase I will keep operating as per the conditions and terms issued when the sanction was effective.

Still, a senior official indicated that the success in gaining the subsidy back relies on the willingness of the Centre to consider the request of the state government.