Tenders floated for procuring electric buses under central scheme: Minister

Tenders floated for procuring electric buses under central scheme: Minister

The government has floated tenders for procuring electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

Under the scheme, 10,000 electric buses will be provided to 169 cities under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Addressing a press conference, Puri said his ministry officials were in touch with bus manufacturers.

"Tenders have been floated to procure buses and by the end of January, the bidding will be completed," the minister said. According to the plan, people travelling in these buses can buy tickets through an automatic fare system.

Operators running these buses will be paid based on the travel distance under the scheme. The scheme will have an estimated cost of Rs 57,613 crore, of which Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the central government and the remaining will be borne by the states.

The government said that priority will be given to the cities which do not have an organised bus service. The scheme will continue till 2037.