The outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 in China is one of the factors that has affected the roll-out of electric buses on intercity routes under the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
The service, called Shivae, was inaugurated in September 2019 in Mumbai by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The MSRTC had given a contract to Gurgaon-based Mozev to provide the buses. Mozev has partnered with Prasanna Purple for the operations.
Prasanna Patwardhan, chairman and managing director of Prasanna Purple, said he was told by manufacturers that the virus outbreak has had an impact on the procurement of components for electric buses. “Nearly 95% of the components of electric bus equipment are manufactured in China. We don’t know when the supply side will be restored. It is one of the reasons for the MSRTC’s delay in launching electric buses,” he said, on the sidelines of the inauguration of his company’s maiden electric bus service, which will also have an electric bus provided by Mozev. He said had there not been supply side issues, the MSRTC service would have also launched by this month.
Ankit Singhvi, founder and managing director of Mozev, said it is too early to comment on the impact of the outbreak. “There would be some impact given that supply chains are global in nature. The effect will be clearer in the next two-three weeks,” he said.
He said the depots had been finalised and work was on in full swing to get power supply to the depots. “Our target before the onset of summer is that we are able to deploy at least 10 buses. That’s our first target. By the end of this year, all 50 buses will have been deployed,” Mr. Singhvi said.
