BYD-Olectra, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and PMI Electro Mobility Solutions are among manufacturers in the fray to supply and operate about 1,200 electric buses for different state departments.
The state transport utilities have floated, or are in the process of floating, tenders for about 5,500 electric buses, and out of these bids for about 1,200 buses have been opened so far.
Chinese automobile maker BYDbacked Olectra is eyeing e-bus tenders in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha, and is the lone bidder in Uttarakhand and Jaipur, while top domestic player Tata Motors has bid for tenders issued by Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
PMI Electro Mobility Solutions, which has a technical tie-up with Chinese commercial vehicle maker Beiqi Foton Motors, is in the fray for Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat tenders. Ashok Leyland has bid for bus supply tender only in Gujarat. Gurugram-based JBM Auto is also actively pursuing tenders in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The Centre had approved subsidy for procurement of 5,595 electric buses by various state utilities across the country under Phase-II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (& Hybrid) Vehicles (FAME). Of these, 5,095 electric buses have been sanctioned for 64 cities, 400 buses for interstate transport, and 100 buses for deployment by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
The largest number of buses have been sanctioned for Maharashtra at 725, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 600. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have been allocated subsidy for deployment of 550 and 525 electric buses, respectively.
Cities of Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad have received accord for 300 electric buses each. Delhi has floated tenders for 100 electric buses, and Gujarat for 200 buses. Rajasthan has floated tenders for 100 buses to ply in Jaipur.
Uttar Pradesh has sought bids for 600 electric buses proposed to be deployed in Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Agra, Varanasi, Mathura, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur and Shahjahanpur.