The Tamil Nadu government is working out the cost involved in purchasing 640 electric buses and for setting up 260 charging points for them.
Pallavan Transport Consultancy Services (PTCS) has floated tender for direct supply of e-buses under the Central government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) scheme.
Earlier, the bids invited by the Institute of Road Transport (IRT) had mentioned that procurement of vehicles for the FAME-II scheme will be made under gross cost contract (GCC) mode. In GCC mode, the private operator will own and maintain buses and charging stations set up at depots.
However, the new tender floated by PTCS for the scheme does not mention this.
The Centre is expected to provide a subsidy of Rs 50 lakh-Rs 55 lakh for each e-bus the cost of which will range between Rs 1.5 crore and Rs two crore.
