<p>Bengaluru: Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Power, announced on Sunday that it will open a mega tender on November 6 to procure 10,900 electric buses for Bengaluru and four other cities. </p><p>At 4,500, Bengaluru will get the lion's share of these buses under the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme launched by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. </p><p>The scheme will help the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) expand its fleet to 10,000 vehicles in the next two years. The BMTC's current fleet stands at 7,067, including 1,799 e-buses. </p><p>Delhi will get 2,800 e-buses, Hyderabad 2,000, Ahmedabad 1,000 and Surat 600. </p><p>CESL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power, said it had received an "overwhelming" response to its mega tender under India’s largest-ever e-bus procurement initiative. </p><p>The pre-bid phase witnessed robust participation from domestic and international manufacturers, with bid opening scheduled for November 6, it added. </p><p>The successful bidder will be allotted depots, and will create charging infrastructure by collaborating with the respective state transport undertaking, CESL said. </p>.Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar dismisses tunnel critics, calls Tejasvi Surya ‘empty vessel’.<p>Under the PM E-DRIVE, CESL said feedback from participating cities had been integrated into the tender, aligning bus types, operational parameters and depot requirements with local needs. </p><p>CESL’s demand aggregation model enables standardisation of specifications, significantly reducing overall costs. In previous rounds, this approach brought down Gross Cost Contract (GCC) rates below diesel and CNG levels, it noted. </p><p>To boost investor confidence and ensure timely payments to operators, the government of India launched the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) in October 2024, with an outlay of Rs 3,435 crore for procuring 6,743 buses, according to CESL. </p><p>The subsidy will be Rs 35 lakh per standard bus (10-12 metres), Rs 25 lakh (midi bus, 8-10 metres) and Rs 20 lakh (minibus, 6-8 metres). </p><p>Only e-buses with an ex-factory price of less than Rs 2 crore will be incentivised. </p><p>According to CESL, it has awarded 17,838 e-buses under various national programmes since 2022.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Power, announced on Sunday that it will open a mega tender on November 6 to procure 10,900 electric buses for Bengaluru and four other cities. </p><p>At 4,500, Bengaluru will get the lion's share of these buses under the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme launched by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. </p><p>The scheme will help the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) expand its fleet to 10,000 vehicles in the next two years. The BMTC's current fleet stands at 7,067, including 1,799 e-buses. </p><p>Delhi will get 2,800 e-buses, Hyderabad 2,000, Ahmedabad 1,000 and Surat 600. </p><p>CESL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power, said it had received an "overwhelming" response to its mega tender under India’s largest-ever e-bus procurement initiative. </p><p>The pre-bid phase witnessed robust participation from domestic and international manufacturers, with bid opening scheduled for November 6, it added. </p><p>The successful bidder will be allotted depots, and will create charging infrastructure by collaborating with the respective state transport undertaking, CESL said. </p>.Karnataka Deputy CM D K Shivakumar dismisses tunnel critics, calls Tejasvi Surya ‘empty vessel’.<p>Under the PM E-DRIVE, CESL said feedback from participating cities had been integrated into the tender, aligning bus types, operational parameters and depot requirements with local needs. </p><p>CESL’s demand aggregation model enables standardisation of specifications, significantly reducing overall costs. In previous rounds, this approach brought down Gross Cost Contract (GCC) rates below diesel and CNG levels, it noted. </p><p>To boost investor confidence and ensure timely payments to operators, the government of India launched the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) in October 2024, with an outlay of Rs 3,435 crore for procuring 6,743 buses, according to CESL. </p><p>The subsidy will be Rs 35 lakh per standard bus (10-12 metres), Rs 25 lakh (midi bus, 8-10 metres) and Rs 20 lakh (minibus, 6-8 metres). </p><p>Only e-buses with an ex-factory price of less than Rs 2 crore will be incentivised. </p><p>According to CESL, it has awarded 17,838 e-buses under various national programmes since 2022.</p>
