Puducherry to procure 75 e-buses under PM e-bus scheme

Puducherry government to procure 75 electric buses under PM e-bus scheme, promoting clean public transportation in urban areas.

The Puducherry government is planning to procure 75 more electric buses under the PM e-bus scheme.

Official sources said the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), on behalf of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), had aggregated the demand from cities shortlisted under the scheme in January this year.

States including Maharashtra, Haryana, Odisha, Gujarat and Meghalaya and Union Territories of Chandigarh, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir have been selected in the first phase. As many as 3,800 buses will be rolled out in the first phase and Puducherry is eligible for 100 e-buses.

Puducherry has been qualified in the list of States and UTs selected in the first phase and the Government has planned to introduce e-buses under the PM e-bus scheme.

With the U.T. waiting for the delivery of its first tranche of electric buses being procured under the Smart City scheme, the Transport Department has submitted a demand for 75 electric buses to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

A Detailed Project Report has been submitted to the Union Government. The initiative is aimed at promoting clean and sustainable public transportation through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in urban centres across India.

According to an official, “Puducherry plans to run 50 buses on inter-city routes and the remaining on mofussil routes. Of the 75 AC buses, 50 will be 12-metres long and will be deployed on inter-city routes while the rest (9-metres long) will be deployed within urban areas.”