Tata Motors on Friday said it has bagged an order for 1,500 electric buses from the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) under a larger tender of the state-run Convergence Energy Services (CESL).
“Tata Motors will supply, operate and maintain air-conditioned, low-floor, 12-metre fully built electric buses for 12 years, under the contract. Tata Starbus electric buses offer sustainable, eco-friendly and economical public transportation. The buses are equipped with modern features to enable safe, smooth and comfortable travel,” the company said in a statement.
Tata Motors Vice-President (Product Line – Buses) Rohit Srivastava said, “We’re delighted to have won the largest order for electric buses by DTC. The delivery of these buses will further fortify our partnership with DTC and help in environment-friendly mass mobility for Delhi. We are committed to modernising public transportation in India and keeping sustainability at the core in designing futuristic vehicles.”
CESL MD & CEO, Mahua Acharya, said, “We are extremely happy that DTC has placed its largest order for electric buses under the Grand Challenge of CESL. The Delhi Government has shown exemplary leadership in transitioning to electric buses. We are fortunate to have benefited from this and are thankful to Tata Motors for their generous collaboration.”
CESL to procure 70,000 electric 3-wheelers
On Monday, CESL also announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Three Wheels United (TWU), a global fintech company specialised in EV financing, to procure 70,000 electric three-wheelers (E3Ws) to be deployed in multiple phases across the country over five years.
The initial procurement of these E3Ws, priced on average at Rs 3 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh for the passenger and cargo categories respectively, will be for deployment in Bengaluru and Delhi. As demand in other cities picks up, TWU will expand to those areas as well, CESL, a subsidiary of state-run Energy Efficiency Services (EESL), said.
The vehicles will receive subsidy from the FAME II programme administered by the Ministry of Heavy Industries. This arrangement comes as a result of the 100,000-vehicle tender managed by CESL in response to a notification in the Gazette of India to aggregate demand for electric three-wheelers.