According to the minister of heavy industries, cities/STUs/state governments placed supply orders for 3,538 electric buses under the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ (MHI) FAME II scheme. As of January 2, 2023, 1,716 of the 3,538 electric buses had been deployed. The minister further stated that for Delhi, 400 electric buses were sanctioned in August 2019. It included 300 electric buses for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) for intra-city operations and 100 electric buses for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to facilitate last mile connectivity.
The supply orders were to be placed by January 15, 2020. The DMRC issued a supply order in December 2019 to the successful bidders whereas DTC could only issue a supply order in March 2021. To facilitate DTC, the MHI extended the last date of supply order by DTC on March 31, 2021 as a special case for providing a pollution free transit system to Delhi.
A total of 250 buses have already been deployed by DTC and now the remaining 50 buses have been launched, fulfilling the commitment of MHI to provide 300 electric buses to DTC. The central government will be giving an incentive of Rs 1.65 billion to DTC for these 300 electric buses.
