Tata, PMI Electro, Volvo Eicher among 16 bidders in record electric bus tender

New Delhi: Sixteen bidders have emerged for the Union government’s tender for 10,900 electric buses, according to a statement by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), which is responsible for tendering electric buses to state transport agencies under the government’s PM E-Drive scheme.

These include bus manufacturers Tata Motors, JBM Auto, PMI Electro Mobility Solutions, Pinnacle Mobility Solutions and Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles, as well as operators Greencell Mobility Pvt. Ltd and Evey Trans Pvt. Ltd, according to two officials aware of the development.

Mint reported first on 1 November that bus makers Tata Motors, JBM, PMI and Pinnacle (which makes e-buses under its subsidiary EKA Mobility) are among those interested in the tender.

While CESL said in its statement that the tender for 10,900 e-buses in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi had attracted 16 bids, it did not name the bidders.

The agency, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), said in the statement that it has concluded the “biggest ever” tender for e-buses in a big thrust to their adoption for public transport in the country.

To be sure, bus makers and operators, as well as any other entities, can bid as a consortium under the tender. The tender has a gross cost contract (GCC) model, where manufacturers retain ownership of the asset, the e-bus in this case, and states pay for the operation of the buses on a per-km basis.

Queries emailed to the bidding companies did not receive an immediate response. Greencell Mobility and its backer Everstone Capital, and Evey Trans could not be reached for comment.

Mint earlier reported on 5 November that bidding for this tender had been deferred thrice due to stringent conditions on bidders and inadequate infrastructure in states.

CESL said in a statement that state transport agencies had sought revisions in lot sizes, bus types and depot-related details, which led to extensions.

“As part of the standard tendering procedures, the technical bids were opened today, wherein a total of 16 bids were submitted. This encouraging participation demonstrates the growing confidence of the industry in India’s electric mobility transition,” the CESL statement read.

This tender, which will provide zero-emission buses to five major metropolitan regions in the country, assumes importance as it is the first phase of putting more than 14,000 e-buses on Indian roads under the PM E-Drive scheme.

The central government has allocated ₹4,391 crore towards reducing the cost of procuring these buses”> ₹4,391 crore towards reducing the cost of procuring these buses under this scheme, making up about 40% of its total outlay.

Bengaluru will receive 4,500 e-buses, Hyderabad 2,000, Surat 600, Ahmedabad 1,000 and Delhi 2,800 under the tender, which opened in late June and was slated to close in August.

Incentives under the PM E-Drive scheme for e-buses are given to state transport agencies, which procure them from bus manufacturers on a per-kilometre operation fee. The tender is for the price discovery of this fee.

Price discovery will happen once the bid evaluation is completed which may take up to four weeks, said one of the officials mentioned above, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The central government has planned to cover 20-35% of the cost of each e-bus, depending on its size. An e-bus today costs about ₹1-1.25 crore.

A CareEdge Ratings March report estimates that, led by incentives, e-bus sales are expected to cross 17,000 units by FY27. Currently, about 3,500 such buses are sold each year.

Adopting electric buses instead of diesel buses reduces vehicular emissions and cuts the country’s fuel import dependence, both key goals of the PM E-Drive scheme.