The Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved “PM-E-Bus Seva” for expansion of city bus operations based on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model through which 10,000 e-buses will be run.
Main point
- The estimated cost of the scheme will be Rs 57,613 crore, out of which Rs 20,000 crore support will be provided by the central government.
- The scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.
- An e-bus is any bus whose propulsion and auxiliary systems are powered exclusively by a zero-emission power source.
Parts of the plan
The plan has two sections
1. Section A
- 10,000 e-buses will be run on public-private partnership model in 169 cities.
- City bus operations will be expanded with 10,000 e-buses on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model through the approved bus scheme.
- The associated infrastructure will help in development/upgradation of depot infrastructure and behind the meter electrical infrastructure (substations, etc.) for e-buses.
2. Section B-
- Under the Green Urban Mobility initiative, infrastructure will be upgraded in 181 cities.
- The plan envisages green initiatives such as bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based automatic fare collection system, charging infrastructure, etc.
Support for operations
- Under the plan, states or cities would be responsible for operating these bus services and paying bus operators.
- The Central Government will support the bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.
- Promotion of e-mobility
- The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for Behind the Meter infrastructure.
- Cities will also be supported for development of charging facilities under the Green Urban Mobility initiative.
- The bus priority infrastructure support will not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy-efficient electric buses, but also spur innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as the development of a robust supply chain for electric vehicles.
- In order to prepare a group of e-buses in this scheme, the economy will also need to be made favorable for the purchase of electric buses.
- Adopting electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emissions.
- The change that would result from an increase in the share of bus-based public transport would result in reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.