India’s PM E-DRIVE scheme intends to deploy 14,028 electric buses india in nine cities that have populations of more than 40 lakh. It has received financial assistance of Rs 4,391 crore from the Central Government.
What Cities Will Be Benefitted?
The subsidy has been provided to the cities to the tune of Rs 35 lakh per standard bus, Rs 25 lakh per midi bus, and Rs 20 lakh for minibus models of buses. An advance commitment has been made for Bengaluru (4500), Delhi (2800), Hyderabad (2000), Ahmedabad (1000), and Surat (600), while in the case of Bengaluru, the number was increased to 7000 later.
Why Is This Important?
The aim of the scheme is to tackle urban pollution and upgrade the public transport system. BMTC has 6903 buses in total which includes 1421 of them being electric buses too. However, the city requires 10000-12000 buses of different types. BMTC also retires nearly 10 percent of its road fleet every year while in the case of Delhi, the latter has over 8000 buses being the highest in all cities in the country.
What Can Go Wrong? – electric buses India
Experts have voiced concerns regarding infrastructure readiness especially in terms of charging and maintenance hubs. The scheme envisions over 72,000 charging stations, and if BMTC fails to pay manufacturers, the state government will step in.
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