To strengthen green mobility, the coalition cabinet on Wednesday approved the “PM-eBus Sewa” plan, which will provide 10,000 electric buses to 169 cities in a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The estimated cost of the program is Rs. 57,613 crore, of which Rs. Union Minister Anurag Thakur told a news conference that the central government will provide Rs 2,000 crore and the rest will be borne by the states.
Priority will be given to cities without organized bus services, he said. The Minister of Information and Broadcasting said the scheme will run until 2037.
He said 10,000 electric buses would be deployed under the PPP model, adding that infrastructure in 181 cities would also be upgraded under the Green City Mobility initiative.
The plan is divided into two parts – enhanced urban bus services in 169 cities and green urban mobility initiatives in 181 cities.
The Union Cabinet meeting under the auspices of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the ‘PM-eBus Sewa’ scheme with a total expenditure of Rs. 57,613 crore, the minister said.
The electric buses will be available in cities with a population of between 500,000 and 4 million, he said, adding that the program would support bus operation for 10 years.
“These cities will be selected through (the scheme) challenge. Non-motorized transport will also be provided to help public transport in these cities,” he said.
Thakur said cities with a population of less than 500,000 will have 50 buses, cities with a population of 500,000 to 2 million will have 100 buses, and cities with a population of 200,000 to 4 million will have 150 buses.
More buses will be provided to cities that scrapped old buses. He said the buses would be procured, operated and maintained under the PPP model and central assistance would be provided under the scheme.
“Out of the total Rs 2,000 crore that the Indian government will provide, Rs 1,593 crore will be used for buses, Rs 2,264 crore for infrastructure development and provision of back-end facilities, and Rs 1,506 crore for green urban mobility,” he said.
“While the states will bear 40 percent of the cost, the center will provide 60 percent of the aid to the states under the scheme,” the minister said. 90% of the aid will be provided under the scheme and the rest will be borne by them.
Under the plan, cities would be responsible for operating bus service and paying bus operators, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Affairs said in a statement.
The central government will provide subsidies within the limits set out in the proposed plan to support these bus operations, adding that priority will be given to cities without organized bus services.
While presenting the 2021-22 Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a Rs 1,800 crore plan to enhance public transport in urban areas.
“The (bus) plan will promote electric mobility and provide comprehensive support for customer-side electric infrastructure. Support for bus-priority infrastructure will not only accelerate the adoption of state-of-the-art, energy-efficient electric buses, but will also “It also promotes innovation in the field of electric vehicles and the development of a resilient supply chain for electric vehicles,” the statement released on Wednesday said.
It said the plan would cover cities with a population of 300,000 and above according to 2011 census data, including all capital cities in the Federal Territory, North East Territory and Mountain States.
Thakur said the scheme would create 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs by deploying about 10,000 buses in urban bus operations.
The two parts of the plan are strengthening urban bus services in 169 cities and green urban transport initiatives in 181 cities.
“The related infrastructure will support the development/upgrade of depot infrastructure and the creation of customer-side power infrastructure (substations, etc.) for electric buses,” it said.
In the second part, the plan envisages green initiatives such as bus priority, infrastructure, intermodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based automated fare collection system and charging infrastructure.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
Svlook
