The Transport Department is awaiting completion of the trial period of the e-bus run in the city to take the project to the next level, involving the purchase of electric buses for the State.
The State government has been allotted 525 e-buses to be procured under the incentives scheme of Fame India Phase II policy announced by the Department of Heavy Industry.
In addition to this, the department has signed a memorandum of understanding with KfW for funding the purchase of 2,213 buses of BS VI versions and 500 electric buses. A senior official of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) said the trial run of the e-bus provided by Ashok Leyland has been successful, and the next step is running one more e-bus.
While the Institute of Road Transport has called for a private consultant for the implementation and financial management as mandated by the agreement signed with KfW, the Transport Department is in the process of identifying the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the e-buses, to be sanctioned by the committee formed for the purpose. The eight cities where the e-buses will be operated are: Coimbatore (100 buses), Tiruchi (100), Madurai (100), Erode (50), Tiruppur (50), Salem (50), Vellore (50), and Thanjavur (25). Chennai is expected to be allotted around 300 e-buses in the coming years.
Meanwhile, questions have been raised about whether in the process of privatising the e-bus services, the State Transport Corporations (STC) would relinquish ownership of the vehicles.
Wet-lease basis
A senior official of STC, however, clarified that the e-buses brought through the Fame II scheme would be run by the corporations themselves, but on a ‘wet lease’ basis, as being followed in the airline industry. The Fame II scheme itself mandates that the e-buses should be operated on wet lease formula through the Gross Cost Contract (GCC), he added.
Sources said unlike other schemes where the incentives are based on capital subsidy, the Fame II scheme is based on the GCC rate for running an electric bus per kilometre for a minimum assured run per year, during the contract period.
The fund for the e-buses itself would be disbursed in three tranches of 20%, 40% and 40%, in order that buses of a good quality only are deployed by the OEM and the interests of the STCs are protected.
The senior official added: “The actual policy would be arrived at based on the pilot operation study and it would be too premature to comment on privatisation of the e-buses.”
He cited the criteria for selecting the OEM in the policy document which states the OEM shall be an Indian manufacturer of the electric bus and should have completed testing and certification requirement under Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989.
Aswathy Dilip, senior programme manager of ITDP, said the e-bus technology is still evolving and it is best for the government not to be tied down to the cost of a technology that is still being tested.
The GCC model works better in this case as the operator will own the buses and maintain them. However, the planning of routes, collection of fare will be done by the State Transport Unit (STU) themselves, she added. A transport expert who wished to remain anonymous said that many cities are moving into public-private partnership model in transport.
He said, “The government decides the public needs including the city coverage, frequency of buses and fare better with the private firm involved in ensuring proper service and maintenance.”
