Of late, there has been a greater action in the space of electric buses. The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) sanctioned Rs. 4.37 billion ($67 million) for the procurement of electric buses, e-taxis and e-autos in December 2017. It has selected 11 cities with one million-plus population for procurement of 390 electric buses, and is providing funds to the tune of Rs. 10 million per bus.
The Department has sanctioned 40 buses for every city under the pilot project, except 15 buses each for Guwahati and Jammu. However, the Bengaluru 
Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in Bengaluru is considering 150 buses and the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) in Hyderabad has decided to take 100 buses. Ten out of 11 cities floated the tender within 15 days, except Delhi which is planning to procure 700 e-buses separately using the State Budget. Interestingly, all 10 cities completed the tender within one month and received good response from the industry.
The Department allowed the cities to choose the procurement method from the option of – outright purchase or gross cost contract (GCC). In the case of outright purchase, DHI provides 60% subsidy and the rest is provided by the State road transport corporations. Five cities (Indore, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati) released tenders under outright purchase model.
On the other hand, buses would be operated and maintained by the supplier at a fixed cost per km under GCC. Under the FAME Scheme, the city expects to receive subsidy of upto 60% of the capital cost of the electric bus over a period three years in three instalments of 20% each in each fiscal starting from the fiscal year of 2017-18. Five cities (Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Jaipur) have decided to invite bids under GCC.
Tata Motors will supply 190 electric buses to six cities, Goldstone-BYD will supply 290 buses to three cities and Ashok Leyland will supply 40 buses to one city. Ahmedabad could not issue the letter of acceptance (LoA) by March 20, 2018.
Key lessons
These buses may be deployed in a phased manner over the next three to six months. Some of the key findings from the latest bidding rounds are as follows:
- Length agnostic subsidy resulted in STU preference for 9 meters buses. The subsidy was based on the localisation components, rather than on the bus size. The Government should encourage procurement of 12-meter buses also as they can be used on truck routes.
- All cities completed the bidding process within one month to avail the subsidy under the FAME-I scheme. Most of the cities are procuring or renting the buses without any detailed operation plan. The authority and the manufacturer / operator will need to work closely to ensure the deployment of e-buses on city routes.
- There is huge variation in tender conditions in different cities, which results into big variation in price for both GCC and outright purchase contract.
- The bidding round experienced very aggressive pricing from limited players to crowd out market. The authority should evaluate the bid price logically to find out the long-term sustainability of the project.
- Timely execution is essential given only two bidders have won all the tenders and will have advantaged position compared to other players. Further, technical capability of bidders also needs to be ascertained to ensure successful execution of contracts.
- Deployment of electric buses is an opportunity for the cities to introduce new technology and change the face of public transport. Unfortunately, cities have not planned any special marketing efforts to popularise the use of electric buses.
Price analysis
The detailed analysis of each city is as follows:
Bengaluru, Karnataka: Bengaluru received the approval for
procurement of 40 electric buses. However, the city planned to procure 150 buses on gross cost. The tend
er was released by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) for hiring of 150 AC electric buses along with charging station. The city has not finalised the ratio of 9 meters and 12 meters air-conditioned e-buses.
BMTC agreed to consider the experience of bus operation outside the country. BMTC has proposed a contract period of 10 years, which will be reviewed after 7 years. The assured average km is 200 km per day per bus. The cost of electricity for the charging of buses will be borne by BMTC.
Goldstone Infratech Ltd. emerged as the lowest bidder for both 9 meters AC e-bus and 12 meters AC e-bus, quoted Rs. 29.28 per km and Rs. 37.35 per km respectively, without the cost of electricity.
Mumbai, Maharashtra: Mumbai received the approval for 
procurement of 40 electric buses from DHI. The city is already running five electric buses (Midi) for the last three months, financed by the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC). The tender was released by BEST Undertaking for the hiring of 40 electric buses under GCC. The city decided to hire 20 AC and 20 non-AC buses.
BEST has proposed a contract period of seven years. The assured average is 4,000 km per month per bus (i.e., 150 km per day). The operator is responsible for the electricity and charging of buses.
Goldstone Infratech Ltd. emerged as the lowest bidder for both 9 meters AC e-bus and 9 meters non-AC e-bus, quoted Rs. 57 per km and Rs. 51 per km.
Hyderabad, Telangana: Hyderabad received the approval for the procurement of 40 electric buses from DHI. However, the city planned to procure 100 
buses on gross cost. In phase-I, the city will procure 40 buses and will procure the remaining buses in phase-II. The tender was released by the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) for hiring of 40 AC electric buses. The city has not finalised the ratio of 9 meters and 12 meters air-conditioned e-buses.
TSRTC has proposed a contract period of for six years initially and extendable for further six years in two spells, 7-9th year and 10-12th year of agreement period, subject to satisfactory performance and fitness of the vehicle.
The assured average is 225 km per day per bus. The cost of electricity for charging of buses will be borne by TSRTC.
Goldstone Infratech Ltd. emerged as the lowest bidder for both 9 meters AC e-bus and 12 meters AC e-bus, quoted Rs. 36 per km and Rs. 40.30 per km, without the cost of the electricity.
Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Ahmedabad received the approval for the procurement of 40 electric buses from DHI. The tender was released by Ahmedabad 
Janmarg Ltd. (AJL) for the hiring of 40 AC Midi electric buses under GCC. AJL has proposed a contract period of 7 years. The assured average km is 72,000 km per bus per year (i.e., 200 km per day). The operator is responsible for the electricity and charging of the buses.
The city conducted first bidding round, where Tata Motors Ltd. emerged as the lowest bidder for 9 meters AC e-bus and quoted Rs. 59.00 per km. Initially, the authority disqualified Goldstone Infratech Ltd. for the lack of technical experience. However, the city decided to cancel the full process and invite fresh bids. Ashok Leyland emerged as the lowest bidder with Rs. 48 per km.
Jaipur, Rajasthan: Jaipur received the approval from DHI for procurement of 40 electric buses. The tender was released by Jaipur City Transport Services 
Ltd. (JCTSL) for hiring of 40 AC midi electric buses under GCC. AJL has proposed a contract period of 7 years. The assured average km is 54,000 km per bus per year (i.e., 150 km per day). The operator is responsible for the electricity and charging of buses.
Tata Motors emerged as the lowest bidder for 9 meters AC e-bus and quoted Rs. 70 per km. The city received four bids but rejected three bids on the technical ground. Tata Motors was the sole bidder which qualified in technical process.
Indore, Madhya Pradesh: Indore received the approval for procurement of 40 electric buses. The tender 
was released by Atal Indore City Transport System Ltd. (AICTSL) for procurement of 40 non-AC electric buses along with charging station. The city decided to opt for 9 meters AC e-buses.
Tata Motors Ltd. emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 40 electric buses. The price includes the FAME subsidy component.
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow received approval for procurement of 40 electric buses. The tender 
was released by Lucknow City Transport Services Ltd. (LCTSL) for procurement of 40 AC midi (9 meters) electric buses along with provisioning and installation of charging station.
LCTSL decided to procure the buses with 10 years annual maintenance contract (AMC) with battery replacement. Further, the e-bus should consume less than 175 KWh energy per 100 km.
Tata Motors emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 40 electric buses. The price includes the FAME Subsidy component.
Kolkata, West Bengal: Kolkata received the approval for procurement of 40 electric buses. The tender was 
released by West Bengal Transport Corporation Ltd. (WBTCL) for procurement of 20 AC midi e-buses and 20 AC standard e-buses, with seven years warranty. The seating capacity of 26 and 31 passengers was fixed for midi and standard bus respectively.
The authority asked for the supply, installation and commissioning of 30 slow-charging and 10 fast-charging facilities stations for midi and standard buses. Minimum range of the vehicle with battery should not be less than 150 km per charge.
Tata Motors emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 40 electric buses. The price includes the FAME subsidy component.
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu received the approval for procurement of 15 electric buses from DHI. The tender was released by Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) for procurement of 15 AC midi (9 meters) electric buses. The cost of provisioning and installation of charging station is asked separately.
Tata Motors emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 15 electric buses at the price of Rs. 9.9 million per bus and will supply four chargers with the buses at the cost Rs. 1.6 million per charger.
Guwahati, Assam: Guwahati received the approval for the procurement of 15 electric buses from DHI. The 
tender was released by the Assam State Transport Corporation for procurement of 15 AC midi (9 meters) electric buses. The cost of provisioning and installation of charging station is asked separately.
Tata Motors emerged as the lowest bidder to supply 15 electric buses at the price of Rs. 9.9 million per bus and will supply four chargers with the buses at the cost Rs. 1.6 million per charger. It was the sole bidder.