e-vehicles nowhere in sight as buses to go off road from Feb 26

The last batch of local buses is going off the road from February 26 making the situation worse with no trace of e-buses arriving anytime soon. Seeing the pace at which things are happening, it might take another one to one-and-a-half years to actually make e-buses a reality. Ludhiana will be without public transportation from February 26.

The required infrastructure like bus depots, charging points and other framework and structure is needed before the plying of e-buses on the roads.

The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has submitted the estimate for setting up the bus depots for 100 e-buses with the Central Government, but it has not been approved yet.

The bus depots are to be developed along Hambran Road and Ghoda Colony. The MC is yet to receive funds for the development of infrastructure and tenders will be floated only after they have received the desired amount of funds.

“We have learnt that the Central Government will be floating tenders for procuring buses from next week and after that the state will be given the required funds and we will also float tenders for setting up the required infrastructure. The complete process will take some time,” said MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal.

The Centre had launched the “PM-eBus Sewa Scheme” with the aim of augmenting bus operations by deploying electric buses on the PPP model and developing associated infrastructure in urban areas with Central assistance. These buses will be operated on a gross cost contract (GCC) and Central assistance of Rs 22 per km will be provided to run them under the scheme. Beyond the Central assistance, the expenditure will be shared equally in a 50:50 ratio by the state government and the MC.

MC plans to float tender for service

Earlier, the Municipal Corporation had asked the Punjab Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) to operate the local bus service but things did not work out. MC Commissioner Aaditya Dachalwal said the proposal to PRTC did not materialise and now the local bus service will be discontinued as the agreement with the firm comes to an end. The MC has planned to float tenders for running the local bus service.