The UT administration has been vigorously making a pitch for including Chandigarh in the recently approved central government scheme PM e-Bus Sewa worth Rs 57,613 crore to get 100 more e-buses at cheaper rates. PM e-Bus Sewa scheme falls under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the scheme in the Union Cabinet meeting held on August 16. Under the scheme, at least 10,000 e-buses will be deployed at 340 cities under two segments, including augmenting the city bus services and Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI). Chandigarh with a population of more than 12 lakh will fall under the second segment (GUMI). A source privy to the development said, “The main reason behind pitching itself for this scheme is the drying up of subsidies which were being availed of by the administration on purchasing e-buses through the Ministry of Heavy Industries under its FAME-1 and FAME-2 schemes. The administration received Rs 45 lakh subsidy on each electric bus received from the central government. So far, we have procured 80 e-buses of FAME-1 and FAME-2 types. The subsidy had dried up when we procured the last slot of 40 FAME-2 e-buses this year. Details about the routes, including internal, outer where CTU diesel buses ply, pressure of passengers and others, have been shared with MoHUA.” There are 624 CTU (Chandigarh Transport Undertaking) diesel-operated buses in Chandigarh. Among these, 358 buses are running within Chandigarh, 178 buses are running on long routes and 88 buses are plying on suburban routes where a CTU bus collects passengers after every hour. Chandigarh has procured 80 e-buses since 2021. At present, 80 electric buses are plying on the roads of Chandigarh – of which 40 were purchased from Eicher, while the rest 40 from Ashok Leyland which were flagged off in 2021. Home Secretary (UT) Nitin Yadav says, “A correspondence has been going on with MoHUA for the last couple of months. In fact, when the plan to introduce PM e-Bus Sewa was in the initial stage, we insisted the MoHUA to bring Chandigarh under the ambit of this scheme. Now, MoHUA itself is calling us to submit our plan. There were some reasons behind the proposal. First: Chandigarh has already decided to convert its all CTU buses into electric buses. Second: The city already has the infrastructure for electric buses. Third: The time limit to avail of the subsidies on procurement of e-buses under the Ministry of Heavy Industries is almost on the verge of lapse. If Chandigarh gets included in the scheme, we expect to receive 100 e-buses in the first slot. Indeed, it is a lengthy process.” Meanwhile, e-buses, since their introduction in Chandigarh in 2021, have become the preferred choice of travel for passengers. The transport department has plans to replace all diesel buses in Tricity with electric ones by 2027-28. Electric buses in the city have clocked up more than 50.15 lakh km, thereby saving 10.03 lakh litres of diesel (which amounts to around Rs 8.42 crore), as per the Chandigarh transport department. More than 70 lakh passengers have travelled on electric buses in the last year and a half. Every day approximately 20,000 passengers in Chandigarh travel on mini-electric buses that were flagged off in September 2021. PM e-Bus Sewa scheme Under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, 10,000 buses will be plied in many cities on PPP model. The scheme is worth Rs 57,613 crore wherein Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the central government. The scheme will cover cities with 3 lakh and above population as per Census 2011 including all the Union Territories, North-Eastern Region and hill states. In view of population, Chandigarh has a plus point as the city's estimated population is believed to be around 12.50 lakh. Diesel-operated buses There are still 624 diesel-operated buses plying on Chandigarh roads. The Chandigarh administration has planned to convert all diesel buses into e-buses in the next five years. Existing e-buses. At present, 80 e-buses are running in Chandigarh. Apart from 80 e-buses, there are 1,599 electric two-wheelers, 3,304 electric three-wheelers and 646 electric four-wheelers including around 150 hybrid vehicles plying on city roads.
