Delhi: Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, flagged-off first e-bus on Monday, and 300 more buses will join the public transport system soon.
CESL, Central Government Agency Convergence Energy Services Ltd., launched the biggest tender ever worth INR 5,500 crore to procure 5,580 buses, including double-decor, in the capital city, New Delhi.
With this, the Delhi government, under the Delhi Transportation Corporation (DTC), aims to deploy 100% electric public transportation.
On Thursday, CESL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), announced the floating of request for proposals for the biggest ever demand electric buses, under the ‘Grand Challenges’ ─ a set of homogenized demand for electric buses aggregated across five major cities, according to the report. The five cities that will be covered under the ‘Grand Challenges’ are Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Surat, and Hyderabad in the first phase.
The first slot of e-buses is expected to hit the roads in July. From the total number of buses, 5,450 will be single-decker buses and 130 double-decker buses, as per the news.
There are efforts of so many people behind this Grand Challenge Tender. STUs, OEMs, financiers, Niti Aayog, DHI, and of my colleagues ─ said Mahua Acharya, MD & CEO of CESL. He further added that it is the biggest ever scheme in the world and is based on an innovative, asset-light model that makes it possible for STUs to deploy affordably and at scale.
With this tender, CESL intends to support the Delhi government in achieving electric mobility targets and building the infrastructure of electric mobility in the country.
Keeping the changing environment in mind, where pollution is the major concern as of now, it is necessary to focus on EVs. Can we expect CESL to expand the support and bring more buses to other cities of India?
