Last month, six buses came, and by the end of July, 19 more are anticipated. By the end of the year, Puducherry Road Transport Corporation plans to transition to electric buses for its operations in both urban and rural areas.
Public transport is probably going to get a boost, as six electric buses arrived in Puducherry last month, and 19 more are anticipated by the end of July. The city will probably become greener and cleaner thanks to these vehicles.
When it comes to purchasing electric buses, Puducherry lags behind the other southern states. By the end of the year, the government-owned Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) hopes to have reduced its carbon footprint and completely switched to electric buses for its operations in both urban and rural areas.
These buses will be run by the Puducherry government as part of the Union government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) Scheme.
Contract for gross cost
The 25 buses are 9-meter vehicles, with 10 being air-conditioned and 15 not. They will be operated in the public-private partnership method under the gross cost contract. A significant amount of the ₹23-crore initial financing from the Smart City project will be paid on a per-kilometer basis for the Behind the Meter (BTM) infrastructure. Within cities, the buses will travel 15 potential routes. The viability gap finance mechanism would be used to operate them, according to Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar.
On a 25,000-square-foot plot of land owned by the Puducherry government on Maraimalai Adigal Salai, Evey Trans Private Limited, a division of Olectra Greentech, is preparing the charging infrastructure.
According to official sources, the operator must pay for maintenance, electricity, and driver hires for a period of 12 years. A bus can go 200 kilometres on a single charge. Charging a bus takes about six hours. The buses that run on batteries last for six to seven years.
The Centre received the demand.
The Puducherry government intends to purchase 75 additional buses under the PM-ebus Sewa program, even though the 25 electric buses would travel on specified routes throughout the cities. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has received the demand.
“Puducherry intends to run 50 buses on inter-city and mofussil routes and the remainder on the existing urban routes,” an official stated. Fifty of the 75 AC buses will have a length of 12 meters. On intercity routes, they will be used. The remaining nine-meter buses will be placed in cities.
“Cities or states will be in charge of managing the bus services and compensating the operators,” the official continues. To the degree allowed by the plan, the central government will provide subsidies to assist bus operations.
Under the plan, the central government will pay ₹23 per km for buses operating in urban areas and ₹24 per km for buses operating on intercity and mofussil routes. The remainder will be covered by the Puducherry government.
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