Under the PM E-Drive programme, which was introduced by the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) in October 2024, India has released a tender for 10,000 electric buses. The government organisation in charge of the tendering process is Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL).
The offer states that CESL is looking for a bus operator to use a Gross Cost Contracting (GCC) to buy, supply, run and maintain 10,900 electric vehicles for public transport. The necessary civil and electric infrastructure must also be developed by the chosen bidders.
The 10,900 electric buses will be distributed by CESL across five major cities—Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Surat—that have a combined population of over four million. More than 40% of the whole fleet—4,500 units—has been assigned to Bengaluru. These units include 300 twelve-metre low-floor AC units, 3,500 twelve-metre low-floor non-AC units, 600 nine-metre low-floor non-AC units, and 100 nine-metre low-floor AC units.
As part of the new tender, Delhi will add 2,800 electric buses to its fleet of public transport vehicles, while Bengaluru will receive the majority. The national capital has been given 2,500 units of twelve-metre low-floor AC buses and 300 units of nine-metre low-floor AC buses by CESL. 2,000 electric buses will be introduced in Hyderabad, comprising 1,025 twelve-metre standard-floor non-AC units, 60 twelve-metre low-floor AC units, 815 twelve-metre standard-floor non-AC units, and 100 nine-metre standard-floor non-AC units.
The remaining 1,600 electric buses will be distributed by CESL between Ahmedabad and Surat. A total of 1,000 units, 600 nine-metre and 400 twelve-metre AC rapid transit buses, will be delivered to Ahmedabad. Six hundred nine-metre AC standard-floor electric buses will be delivered to Surat.
MHI intends to give public transport agencies and state transport undertakings a total of 43.91 billion rupees (about 437 million euros) in subsidies for 14,028 electric buses under the PM E-Drive initiative. These advantages would be provided in nine cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad—that have a population of four million or more.
| Bus Size | Maximum Incentive / Bus |
| Standard bus, length > 10m & <=12m | 3,500,000 rupees (approx. €35,000 EUR) |
| Midi bus, length >8m & <=10m | 2,500,000 rupees (approx. €25,000 EUR) |
| Minibus, length >6m & <=8m | 2,000,000 rupees (approx. €20,000 EUR) |
According to MHI, the e-buses’ ex-factory price cannot exceed 20 million rupees, or about 20,000 euros. A uniform payment of 10,000 rupees per kWh, 20% of the bus’s cost, or the maximum incentive based on bus size as shown in the above table, whichever is less, will be provided.
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