Belagavi will soon get 100 e-buses for public transport under the government’s PM-eBus Sewa scheme, revealed in guidelines.
The scheme, which was approved by the Cabinet in August, is aimed at adding 10,000 electric buses to the public transportation networks of 169 eligible cities.
As per the guidelines issued by the ministry, the scheme will prioritise smaller cities that lack public transport facilities. The buses will be procured under public-private partnership (PPP) and the government will give a per kilometre payment to the operators. According to officials, the first tender for buses under PM e-Bus Sewa is likely to be issued soon.
A total of 8 cities in Karnataka have been selected for the program. Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, and Mysuru fall under the category of cities with a population under 10 lakh, while Ballari, Vijayapura, Davanagere, Shivamogga, and Tumkur fall under the category of cities with a population under 5 lakh.
The Union government was gearing up to issue tenders for 3,000 out of the proposed 10,000 electric buses under the PM eBus Sewa scheme, according to Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry sources.
Direct Employment Generation:
The scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operation.
The Scheme has two segments:
Segment A – Augmenting the City bus services:(169 cities)
The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities)
The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
Support for Operation: Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators. The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.
Boost to E-Mobility:
- The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for behind-the-meter power infrastructure.
- Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under Green Urban Mobility Initiatives.
- The support to bus priority infrastructure shall not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy efficient electric buses but also foster the innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as development of resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.
- This scheme shall also bring in economies of scale for procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses.
- Adoption to Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emission.
- Modal shift due to increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to GHG reduction.
