Bengaluru is all set to get a fleet of 921 more electric buses as the city’s transport corporation has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Tata Motors. The subsidiary company, TML Smart City Mobility Solutions, will be responsible for operation and maintenance of 921 low-floor electric buses in the city for 12 years.
The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) said the deal would be done under the FAME-II scheme, which provides incentives for adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.
A separate statement by the automobile giant said that the Tata Starbus Electric is an indigenously developed 12-metre long vehicle with superior design and best-in-class amenities for a sustainable and comfortable journey. it further said Tata Motors Till date it has supplied more than 730 electric buses across multiple cities in India, which have covered a total distance of more than 55 million kms.
However, according to a report in Reuters news agency, the country’s banks are reluctant to lend to electric-bus manufacturers over concerns about recovery of dues.
Citing government sources, the agency said on Saturday that a lack of funds is limiting the ability of e-bus makers to participate in federal government tenders to supply states, which now rely on diesel as the main mode of public transport. threatening to slow down electrification.
India is looking to deploy 50,000 e-buses in installments over the next four to five years at an estimated cost of one trillion rupees ($12 billion).
So far, 6,740 e-buses have been approved Modi government Which provides an incentive for the associated infrastructure, about a third of which is deployed in the states.
A banker told Reuters that each electric bus costs 12.5 million rupees ($151,138), about five times as much as a diesel one. Financing of diesel buses is safer because, in the event of any default, banks can reclaim the asset and redeploy it easily. However, e-buses require charging and other infrastructure which may not be available everywhere.
A Tata Motors spokesperson said “adequate safeguards with appropriate payment security mechanisms” were needed to make such enterprises bankable. The company will consider participating in future Tenders once such measures are in place, the spokesperson said.
The road transport sector accounts for 13% of carbon emissions in India. Buses are one of the most important means of public transport in India and state transport units own and operate 150,000 buses that carry 70 million passengers daily.
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