New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today approved a bus scheme “PM-eBus Sewa” for augmenting city bus operation by 10,000 e-buses on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model at an estimated cost of Rs.57,613 crore. Of this, support of Rs.20,000 crore will be provided by the Central government.
The scheme, which supports eBus operations for 10 years, will cover cities of three lakh and above population as per the census 2011 including all the capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States. Under this scheme, priority will be given to cities having no organized bus service.
It is also expected to generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through the deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operations.
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 the development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and the 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 subsidies 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 the 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 innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as the development of a resilient supply chain for electric vehicles.
- This scheme shall also bring in economies of scale for the procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses.
- Adoption of Electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emissions.
- Modal shift due to an increased share of bus-based public transportation will lead to GHG reduction.
– global bihari bureau
