Investment in the ₹57,613 crore PM-eBus Sewa scheme

New Delhi: The Union government will not make an upfront investment in the ₹57,613 crore PM e-bus scheme . Instead it will be staggered over a period of seven years and funds released based on the distance travelled by these 10,000 e-buses on a per kilometre basis.

“After the buses are tendered, the central government will pay on a per kilometre basis, and will not make an upfront investment for these schemes,” informed a senior government official. “The private sector will operate these buses. Fares collected will be topped by the Central Government on any further requirements of the state government.” .

The Cabinet had incidentallyy approved last month the ₹57,613 crore PM-eBus Sewa scheme in PPP mode, of which the government will provide ₹20,000 crore.

Under the 10-year scheme to augment city bus services, 10,000 electric buses will be deployed in 169 cities, prioritizing those cities that are currently lacking organized bus services. The central government expects the scheme to generate 45,000-55,000 direct jobs as well as push green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)-based automated fare collection systems, charging infrastructure among others.

Under the scheme, the states will be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators, while the centre will support these bus operations by providing subsidies.

The outlay for the PM-eBus Sewa scheme will be accommodated within the budgeted estimates for the fiscal year 2024.

The PM e-Bus Sewa scheme will cover cities with a population of 300,000 to four million (according to the Census 2011). Specifically there are 169 cities eligible to apply for electric buses under this scheme.

Following the cabinet decision to approve the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme last month, Manoj Joshi, secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoUHA) had said that the final number of cities to be covered under the scheme will depend on the number of cities that apply for it.

He had added that the nine biggest cities of India having a population of upwards of four million will be excluded from the scheme .These cities are already covered under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme run by the Ministry of heavy industries.