Tenders called to procure 100 electric buses for city

500 electric a/c buses to be acquired for Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore

The State government has signed an agreement with KfW for procuring electric buses. | Photo Credit: M. KARUNAKARAN

The Transport Department has proposed to acquire 100 electric buses to be operated by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation Chennai (MTC). 

A senior official of the Transport Department said tenders for procurement of 100 electric buses in the first phase has been initiated by calling for Expression of Interest (EoI) to be submitted by national and international bus manufacturers. 

“The success of electric vehicles depends on the type of charging infrastructure. The EoI gives scope for exploring all these possibilities for procuring and operating the best model suited to our road conditions,” the official said. 

The Institute of Road Transport (IRT), being the nodal agency for purchasing the electric buses to be financed by the German State-owned development bank KfW, has called for tenders which would be closing in a month’s time. 

A senior official said the tender covered charging infrastructure specification, bus repair and maintenance. In all, 500 air-conditioned electric buses would be operated in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. 

The State government had inked an agreement with KfW for purchasing more than 2,000 buses and 500 electric buses two years ago. But the project has been long delayed and is being speeded up now.