NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (
BMTC) plan to induct into its fleet 150 electric buses on lease model has run into hurdles.
The
department of heavy industries (DHI) has pruned the ambit of giving subsidy to the state transport utilities, including from Bengaluru, Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi, making a U-turn on its announcement four months ago.
In December, the DHI had said it’ll provide the subsidy to state road transport undertakings (SRTUs) for buying buses for their operation, under capital expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure (opex) models, respectively. Under opex model, maintenance and operation is the responsibility of operators.
Sources said SRTUs such as the BMTC and BEST in Mumbai are staring at a crisis since most electric buses for which they have placed orders fall under the opex model, which the DHI has abandoned. STOIhas learnt that the DHI communicated this to the SRTUs early this week.
“We have requested the department to reconsider the decision since we have already ordered procurement. The Centre was aware of the process and had approved it as well,” said the chief of one of the SRTUs.
In capex model, SRTUs buy buses and the Centre shares 60% of the cost. The rest of the amount comes from the SRTUs. The opex model is known as “lease model” in Bengaluru. DHI has communicated to SRTUs not to provide financial assistance under this model.
Under the lease model, the selected operators will have to provide 150 electric buses with qualified drivers and operate on routes provided by BMTC for 10 years. However, the corporation will deploy a conductor in each bus for fare collection. The operators will also have to register the buses in Bengaluru and bear expenditure related to vehicle maintenance, charging infrastructure and operational cost such as tyres, spares, lubricants and wages of drivers and maintenance staff. BMTC pays the firm based on the distance covered.
The Centre had in-principle agreed to provide up to Rs 85 lakh per electric bus and approved BMTC’s plan to induct 80 buses in the first phase.
BMTC chairman M Nagaraju Yadav said: “It’s unfair to insist on purchasing expensive electric buses. The electric bus concept and technology is new, so it is difficult for us to buy it. We have already finalized the tender to operate 150 electric buses on lease model. It does not make sense to buy electric buses which costs nearly Rs 2 crore per bus. BMTC board and the state government had earlier approved the lease model.”
