Citing losses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has scrapped its plan of introducing air-conditioned electric buses in its fleet. Instead, it will lease non-AC electric buses.
The Corporation, on Wednesday, floated a fresh tender to lease 300 non-AC electric buses under the Centre’s FAME India II scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles). It had cancelled two tenders in the past citing different reasons, including high operational costs quoted by private bidders.
Since the onset of the pandemic, commuters have been wary of using public transport, with few takers for air-conditioned buses. Managing Director of BMTC C. Shikha told The Hindu that the pandemic had forced the Corporation to rethink its decision on leasing AC buses.
“A majority of the AC buses in the existing fleet are non-operational. Moreover, the operation of non-AC electric buses will help a larger number of passengers than catering to a particular segment.”
The BMTC has a fleet of over 800 AC buses, but only 50-odd are currently operational.
When asked about changes made in the tender, Ms. Shikha said, “In addition to the central government subsidy of ₹55 lakh per bus, we have taken a decision to use ₹100 crore budgetary allocation of the State government. Now, for each bus, a subsidy of ₹80 lakh is available. The BMTC is the first road transportation to use both central and State government subsidy to lease electric buses.”
The Corporation has been making attempts to operate electric buses on city roads since 2014 but has yet to make it a reality. This time around, officials are confident of getting competitive bidding that is financially viable for the cash-strapped BMTC, which has incurred over ₹900 crore revenue loss due to the pandemic.
