India to invite bids for 60,000 electric buses soon : Amitabh Kant

NEW DELHI : India’s G20 Sherpa and former CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, on Tuesday, announced that the government will soon invite bids for 60,000 electric buses. Speaking at the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Dialogue, Kant revealed that India will introduce the FAME III scheme to sustain the electric vehicle (EV) transition and expand charging infrastructure nationwide.

According to Kant, a recent tender for 6,000 electric buses showed that these buses are approximately 13 to 14% cheaper in operational costs compared to traditional internal combustion engine buses.

He added that the next tender will be for 10,000 buses, followed by another for 50,000 buses. “The size and scale will help to bring down the prices significantly, much like what India achieved with the procurement of about 320 million LED bulbs,” said Kant.

The FAME II scheme, launched in 2019 with a budget of ₹10,000 crore, aimed to support the deployment of 7,000 electric buses among other electric vehicles. As of December 2023, the scheme had subsidised over 12 lakh vehicles at a cost of ₹5,422 crore.

According to the Ministry of Heavy Industries, under this scheme, 6,862 electric buses have been deployed across various states, and 148 EV public charging stations have been established.

Kant said, “In another two to three years, India will become the third largest economy in the world and we will be urbanising significantly.” He added that over the next 50 years, India will experience substantial urbanisation, with an estimated 500 million people moving into urban areas, effectively creating “Chicago every 4 years.”

He further explained that the forthcoming FAME III scheme is intended to continue supporting the EV transition and expand the charging infrastructure nationwide. “We will introduce FAME III to ensure the EV transition continues and there is ample charging infrastructure across the country,” he added.