Puducherry Transport Department has issued a Letter of Intent to a private firm to supply, operate and maintain 25 electric buses

The Puducherry Transport Department has granted a Letter of Intent (LoI) to a private entity to provide, operate, and maintain 25 electric buses in the city, as well as to develop related infrastructure, such as charging stations. The letter was issued following a bidding procedure and final government clearance.

According to official sources, the private enterprise has also given a Letter of Acceptance (LoA), and an agreement will be signed within 15 days. This firm already operates electric buses in several cities, and the first electric bus prototype is planned to be delivered in 45 days.

The State Transport Department will inspect the prototype to ensure that it fits all regulations and technical specifications, after which the Puducherry government is likely to approve its ambitious plan to transition to green transportation in the Union Territory. "The electric buses are expected to hit the roads in the next three months," according to a Transport Department official. The buses will be delivered in phases, each with its own colour scheme. The 25 buses (ten AC and fifteen non-AC) will be 9 metres long.

The U.T. administration tested the Proof of Concept (POC) of an electric bus from the chosen private business in June. The buses were given a weight of 1,750 kg, and based on the report of an inspection team, the decision was made to issue the LoI to begin the purchase of the buses."In the first phase of the Smart City project, the government has sanctioned Rs. 23 crores as initial seed funding for the procurement of buses, which will run on 15 tentative routes within urban areas." The buses will run on a viability gap financing scheme."

According to the official, the operator will set up charging stations and related infrastructure, with annual fleet-level assured operations of 200 km per day per bus for a period of 12 years. The operator is responsible for all bus maintenance and power expenditures.

The Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) or Puducherry Urban Transport Agency (PUTA), as per the bid document, will be responsible for fare collection and passenger tax on tickets, while the operator will be responsible for all other permissions and clearances such as registration, insurance, stage carrier permit, Motor Vehicle Tax, and GST on kilometre charges. An escrow account will also be established, into which all money and profits produced by the operation of the buses would be placed. This would assist to rationalise the prices paid on a per-kilometer basis.

According to authorities, battery-powered buses have a lifespan of 6-7 years and can go over 200 km on a single charge. Charging the buses takes around six hours. The administration of Puducherry has chosen two areas in the city for the installation of charging infrastructure for electric buses. Furthermore, the Transport Department had made a request to Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), for the acquisition of 25 (12-metre-long) electric buses for inter-state usage.

"CESL had sent a request for electric bus requirements to all states." "The unified tender represents the total demand of all states," an official explained. These electric buses will have a range of up to 250 km and a seating capacity of 40 people.