The Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved a bus scheme “PM-eBus Sewa” to augment city bus operations by 10,000 e-buses on PPP model. The estimated cost of the scheme will be Rs 57,613 crore, out of which Rs 20,000 crore support will be provided by the central government. The scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.
The scheme will generate 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs through deployment of around 10,000 buses in city bus operations. The tenure of the scheme has been fixed till 2037, providing stability and longevity to the expected reforms. In addition, the government has pledged a decade of support, demonstrating its commitment to the success of the initiative.
The plan has two sections:
Section A - Augmentation of City Bus Services:
A total of 10,000 electric buses will be deployed on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in 169 cities. The scheme covers cities with a population of more than three lakhs, with priority given to cities that lack organized bus services.
The Associated Infrastructure Depot will provide support for development/upgradation of infrastructure; and building electrical infrastructure (substations, etc.) behind the meters for e-buses.
Section B - Green Urban Mobility Initiative (GUMI):
Under the plan's 'Green Urban Mobility Initiative', 181 cities will be updated with infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities and NCMC-based automatic fare collection systems.
Support for operations: Under the scheme, the states/cities will 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.
Promotion of e-mobility:
- The scheme will promote e-mobility and provide full support for electricity infrastructure behind the meter.
- Cities will also be supported for development of charging infrastructure under the Green Urban Mobility initiative.
- Bus priority infrastructure support will not only accelerate the proliferation of state-of-the-art, energy-efficient electric buses, but also spur innovation in the e-mobility sector as well as the development of a flexible supply chain for electric vehicles.
- The scheme will also bring economies of scale for procurement of electric buses through aggregation for e-buses.
- Adopting electric mobility will reduce noise and air pollution and curb carbon emissions.
- Modal shift due to increasing share of bus-based public transport will reduce GHGs.