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Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Tricity public transport faces crisis as 100 buses to be phased out and replacements delayed
Chandigarh: Come November, the Chandigarh Tricity public transportation system will face a major crisis. Eighty percent of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses on the Tricity routes will be off the road, and their replacements — 100 electric buses — are stuck in legal and procedural delays. Out of the 358 diesel buses on local routes, 100 will complete their 15-year service limit by Nov this year, and these will have to be phased out. "All of these are on the Tricity routes — Mohali and Panchkula districts — comprising 80% of the total buses on these routes. Taking off these buses will leave a large number of Tricity passengers using public transport in the lurch," said a UT official. "This is more so as the CTU is the mainstay of the public transport system in the Tricity, with Mohali having no Tricity bus service available and Panchkula having a very limited local bus service. When these 100 buses are taken off the road, there will be a consequent reduction in bus services within the Tricity." The process to replace these 100 diesel buses with e-buses started a couple of years ago. "The buses were being purchased under a central govt scheme, and even the tendering process was completed last year. But since then, litigation plagued the execution of the tender. On July 2, there was a final judicial pronouncement expected to resolve the issue, but it didn't happen, and legal proceedings are still going on," said the official. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Meanwhile, a UT proposal to procure 100 e-buses by initiating the tendering process at its own level is pending with the ministry of home affairs (MHA). "Recently, the MHA got the nod from the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) for the proposal. Thereafter, the MHA sent the proposal to the department of expenditure, ministry of finance," said the official. The new 100 e-buses were to be ultra-low entry (ULE) vehicles of 12m length. The existing e-buses with CTU are 9m long and of low entry. The 100 buses are to be availed under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme. SOLUTIONS ON TABLE One option is to relax the norm for the 15-year rule on the service tenure of govt buses. "The central govt rules categorically stipulate taking out of service vehicles completing a 15-year tenure. But the department would propose to the competent authority to relax this norm for these 100 buses," said the official. Another option the department is working on is to divert some of its long-route buses to Tricity routes. "Though it will help Tricity passengers, CTU long-route buses will suffer. CTU will also lose its long-route passengers to other carriers. It will entail major losses for the CTU," said the official.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
E-bus maker Eka Mobility raising ₹200-300 crore from Enam Holdings
New Delhi: Eka Mobility , a Pune-based manufacturer of electric buses and light commercial vehicles, is in the process of raising ₹200-300 crore from private equity firm Enam Holdings to fund its expansion plans, people in the know said. This deal under a convertible structure could give the company a near unicorn status with a valuation of close to $1 billion, if it attains certain specified targets, they said. 'There is a range associated with the valuation, which can touch as high as that of a unicorn if certain performance metrics are met. The holding structure will be determined accordingly,' a senior industry executive said on the condition of anonymity. Eka Mobility and Enam Holdings declined to comment. Prior to this, Eka Mobility had raised ₹1,000 crore from promoters (Sudhir Mehta-led Pinnacle Industries), as well as Japan's Mitsui & Co and VDL Groep of the Netherlands. Eka Mobility has a strategic partnership with Mitsui and VDL Groep to manufacture electric buses and light-commercial vehicles in India. 'The entire resources being raised will be invested in the company. The company has a strong order book and will use the capital to expand manufacturing capacity,' the industry executive said. The company has the capacity to manufacture 2,500 electric buses and 20,000 small commercial vehicles a year at its facilities in Pune. Plans are in place to double the capacity for electric buses at Pune by fiscal 2027. One of the commercial vehicle manufacturers approved under the Champion OEM and EV component manufacturing schemes of the auto production-linked incentive policy, Eka Mobility also has a mid-term plan to build a third plant at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh with a capacity to manufacture 5,000 electric buses a year. According to the company, it currently has an order book of more than 3,000 e-buses, including 2,125 from Convergence Energy Services Ltd under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme. The order list includes 750 e-buses for Andhra Pradesh, 675 for Rajasthan and 205 for Chhattisgarh. It also has orders for 1,500 e-buses from the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and other private orders combined. Eka Mobility has established a presence in Africa for future local assembly and sales. It is also in advanced discussion with Latin American and Asean countries to scale up operations. Axis Capital is advising Eka Mobility on the fundraising.
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
E-bus maker Eka Mobility raising ₹200-300 crore from Enam Holdings
New Delhi: Eka Mobility , a Pune-based manufacturer of electric buses and light commercial vehicles, is in the process of raising ₹200-300 crore from private equity firm Enam Holdings to fund its expansion plans, people in the know said. This deal under a convertible structure could give the company a near unicorn status with a valuation of close to $1 billion, if it attains certain specified targets, they said. 'There is a range associated with the valuation, which can touch as high as that of a unicorn if certain performance metrics are met. The holding structure will be determined accordingly,' a senior industry executive said on the condition of anonymity. Eka Mobility and Enam Holdings declined to comment. Prior to this, Eka Mobility had raised ₹1,000 crore from promoters (Sudhir Mehta-led Pinnacle Industries), as well as Japan's Mitsui & Co and VDL Groep of the Netherlands. Eka Mobility has a strategic partnership with Mitsui and VDL Groep to manufacture electric buses and light-commercial vehicles in India. 'The entire resources being raised will be invested in the company. The company has a strong order book and will use the capital to expand manufacturing capacity,' the industry executive said. The company has the capacity to manufacture 2,500 electric buses and 20,000 small commercial vehicles a year at its facilities in Pune. Plans are in place to double the capacity for electric buses at Pune by fiscal 2027. One of the commercial vehicle manufacturers approved under the Champion OEM and EV component manufacturing schemes of the auto production-linked incentive policy, Eka Mobility also has a mid-term plan to build a third plant at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh with a capacity to manufacture 5,000 electric buses a year. According to the company, it currently has an order book of more than 3,000 e-buses, including 2,125 from Convergence Energy Services Ltd under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme. The order list includes 750 e-buses for Andhra Pradesh, 675 for Rajasthan and 205 for Chhattisgarh. It also has orders for 1,500 e-buses from the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and other private orders combined. Eka Mobility has established a presence in Africa for future local assembly and sales. It is also in advanced discussion with Latin American and Asean countries to scale up operations. Axis Capital is advising Eka Mobility on the fundraising.
