Bengaluru's wait for electric buses gets longer

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) ambitious plan of rolling out a fleet of electric buses may not materialise now. Although the transport utility had planned to operate electric buses from October, it is yet to award the contract for want of government clearances.

A proposal from the BMTC to the state government is said to be stuck at the desk of transport minister DC Thammanna’s office. Government sources said the minister is yet to clear the proposal, though the HD Kumaraswamy regime is set to complete 100 days early next month.

When contacted, the minister said he was studying the pros and cons of BMTC’s proposal. “The government is in favour of running electric buses. But these buses, which are being brought under the PPP model, should not add to BMTC’s problems by disrupting its existing services and causing burden to commuters with higher fares.”

It was in February that Hyderabad based electric bus manufacturing company Olectra Greentech had won the bid for procuring 80 electric buses. The bidder, according to the tender condition, had agreed to operate the buses in six months.

Although the BMTC submitted a Letter of Intent (LoI) to Olectra Greentech in February, there was no progress for a couple of weeks due to the election code of conduct. “After the JD(S)- Congress coalition took over, we sent the proposal to the transport minister for approval. We are waiting for approvals for awarding the project,” another source requested anonymity said.

Bengaluru’s public transport undertaking was among the 11 Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad that were selected for 40-60% subsidy from the union government under the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles) India scheme instituted by Department of Heavy Industries (DHI). Each electric bus costs about ?1.6 crore.

Due to lack of resources and technical expertise, the transport utility chose to operate electric buses under a PPP model.

Accordingly, the corporation will pay ?37.50 per kilometre to the private operator in addition to providing a conductor. The operator will invest on operating buses and its maintenance.

In 2014, the BMTC operated India’s first electric bus on a pilot basis for three months but abandoned the idea of running them on its own as the corporation found these buses expensive and difficult to maintain.

Pawan Mulukutla, head (integrated transport) at World Resources Institute, said the BMTC must first implement the initial phase of use of electric buses.

“It will give an idea to the BMTC, which can then prepare a better roadmap. The experience will guide how much of BMTC fleet should be electric, how to go about installing charging stations, training staffers and designing depots,” he said.