Electric bus operations set to boost public transport in Puducherry
With six electric buses arriving in Puducherry last month and 19 more expected by July-end, public transport is likely to get a boost. These buses will likely make the city cleaner and greener.
Puducherry is late in buying electric buses, compared with the other Southern States. The measure is aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the government-owned Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), and its full transition to electric buses for its operations in urban and mofussil areas by the year-end.
The Puducherry government will operate these buses under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid & Electric Vehicles in India (FAME-II) Scheme of the Union government.
Gross cost contract
'The 25 buses (10 AC and 15 non-AC) are 9-metre vehicles. They will be run on the gross cost contract in the public-private partnership mode. The ₹23-crore seed funding from the Smart City project will be used for the Behind the Meter (BTM) facility, and a major portion of the sum will paid on a per kilometre basis. The buses will ply on 15 tentative routes within urban areas. They will be operated on a viability gap funding model,' says Transport Commissioner A.S. Sivakumar.
The charging infrastructure is being readied by Evey Trans Private Limited, a subsidiary of Olectra Greentech, on a 25,000-square foot site belonging to the Puducherry government on Maraimalai Adigal Salai.
Official sources say the operator has to bear the cost of hiring drivers, electricity, and maintenance for 12 years. With a single charge, a bus can run up to 200 km. It takes around six hours to charge a bus. The battery-operated buses have a life of 6-7 years.
Demand sent to the Centre
While the 25 electric buses will ply on designated routes in the urban areas, the Puducherry government has planned to procure 75 more buses under the PM-ebus Sewa scheme. It has submitted the demand to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
According to an official, 'Puducherry plans to run 50 buses on inter-city as well as mofussil routes and the rest on the existing urban routes. Of the 75 AC buses, 50 will be 12 metres long. They will be deployed on inter-city routes. The rest of the buses (9 metres) will be deployed in urban areas.'
The official adds, 'States or cities will be responsible for running the bus services and paying the operators. The Central government will support the bus operations by giving subsidies to the extent specified in the scheme.'
Under the scheme, the Central government will provide ₹24 per km for a bus deployed on inter-city routes and mofussil routes and ₹23 per km for a bus in urban areas. The Puducherry administration will bear the rest.
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