The list of cities that will be deploying these electric buses include New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengalurr, Surat and Hyderabad. CESL is expecting that the first lot of buses will be hitting the road by the end July 2022
Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) is looking to procure 5,580 electric buses. The same are planned to be deployed across five major Indian cities. The tender’s value is about Rs 5,500 Cr, and it includes procurement orders for 130 double-decker buses.
CESL operating under the umbrella of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) has named the order as the Grand Challenge. The agency has said that this purchase plan of electric buses is the biggest ever. The list of cities that will be deploying these electric buses include New Delhi, Kolkata, Bengalurr, Surat and Hyderabad. CESL is expecting that the first lot of buses will be hitting the road by the end July 2022.
“CESL intends to enhance its support to state governments in achieving their electric mobility targets as well as further build an infrastructure for electric mobility in the country,” the statement read.
Delhi has requested for 1,500 buses under the scheme. The capital of India will also be offering state subsidies wherever they are required and are applicable. CESL is also planning to extedn the same support to more cities in the future.
“This is the biggest ever scheme in the world—and is based on an innovative, asset-light model that makes it possible for state transport undertakings to deploy affordably and at scale,’’ said, Mahua Acharya, managing director and chief executive officer of CESL.
The agencg, in August 2021, had issued a tender for procuring 100,000 electric three-wheelers (E3W). It said that a request for proposal has been issued inviting original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to provide quotations for E3W under different use-cases including garbage disposal, freight loaders, food and vaccine transport and passenger autos.
CESL was also looking to lease the vehicles to entities that wish to avail such leasing services. It will also make these E3Ws available through its digital platform for resale to any entity interested in outright purchase.
