Union Cabinet Approves Rs. 57,613 Crore Scheme For 10,000 Electric Buses

The PM-eBus Sewa will help deploy 10,000 electric buses across 169 cities.

In a bid to enhance green mobility across multiple cities, the Union Cabinet has announced the ‘PM-eBus Sewa’ during a press conference. The Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that this new scheme will help increase bus operations in different cities and that priority will be given to cities devoid of an organized bus service.

Dr. Aanchal Jain, CEO, PMI Electro Mobility, commented on the scheme, “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 total cost for this new scheme is estimated at Rs 57,613 crore, out of which Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the Centre. 10,000 electric buses will be deployed on the public-private partnership (PPP) model across 169 cities, according to a report by PTI. Thakur further said that the Green Urban Mobility Initiatives, the infrastructure will be upgraded in 181 cities.

Nishant Arya, Vice Chairman and MD, JBM Auto, also commented on the scheme, “The Hon’ble PM led Cabinet’s decision to allocate Rs 57,613 crore for deployment of 10,000 electric buses across major cities as also Union Territories, hill states and the northeast region will truly take electric buses to the grassroot level pan India. This is a momentous decision 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.”

Furthermore, the scheme is expected to support bus operations for 10 years and is likely to create 45,000 to 55,000 direct work opportunities. To help further strengthen the scheme, the Centre will create behind-the-meter power infrastructure for electric buses. Moreover, all capital cities, hill states, union territories and north-east region along with cities with a population in excess of 300,000 will be included in this scheme.