NMC awards e-bus contract days before poll code of conduct kicks in

Nagpur: Just days before the model code of conduct for the state assembly elections took effect, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) awarded a long-pending contract to procure 250 electric buses. On October 11, city firm M/s Hansa City Bus Services (Nagpur) Pvt Ltd received the letter of award (LOA), ending nearly two years of delays since the state govt initially sanctioned the project.
A senior NMC official revealed that the civic body was rushing to finalise major projects ahead of the code of conduct, which came into effect on Tuesday. In the past two weeks, work orders worth over Rs1,000 crore were issued, while ground-breaking ceremonies (bhoomipuja) were conducted for projects totalling more than Rs2,000 crore.
Data from NMC shows that the civic body began floating tenders after the general election code ended on June 6. In June alone, tenders were issued for 69 works worth over Rs70 crore. This number increased to 193 in July and 237 in August. As the state assembly elections approached, over 380 tenders were floated in the last 45 days, covering works valued at around Rs700 crore.
Of the work orders issued recently, projects worth Rs400 crore were sanctioned under the District Planning and Development Council (DPDC). The majority of these works are concentrated in Nagpur south, east, and southwest constituencies, which are represented by BJP MLAs — Mohan Mate, Krishna Khopde, and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
In 2022, Fadnavis sanctioned Rs137 crore for the procurement of 250 electric buses. However, the project was delayed due to various reasons, including the general election model code of conduct. NMC floated tenders twice, with bids from Hyderabad-based Olectra and Nagpur-based Hansa Buses Pvt Ltd. The bid by Hansa for Rs62.84 per kilometre was significantly lower than Olectra's Rs77.91 per kilometre, leading NMC selecting the local firm.
On October 11, NMC officially issued the LOA, giving Hansa 300 days to deliver and operate the 250 e-buses, according to a senior transport department official.
In addition, NMC is set to receive the first lot of 40 e-buses from the 150 sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri e-buses scheme by March 2025. "By next year, NMC plans to phase out the current fleet of 237 JNNURM standard buses, and by 2029, all diesel buses will be replaced with e-buses, achieving zero emissions for city bus operations," the official stated.