PMI Electro to supply 250 electric buses to Mumbai municipality
- The buses will be operated under the Gross Cost Contract model, where the manufacturer owns the buses, and the transport undertaking bears the cost of operations.
Delhi-based PMI Electro Mobility Solutions Pvt Ltd will supply 250 electric buses to Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST), which operates the financial capital's bus services, in different lots by the end of the second quarter of FY26, according to a company press release.
The air-conditioned buses, the company said, will be operated under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model, where the manufacturer owns the buses, and the transport undertaking, BEST in this case, will bear the cost of operations.
BEST will also collect revenue from ticket sales and provide conductors for the buses under the GCC model.
Operators or transport undertakings such as BEST pay a monthly fee to the manufacturer on a per kilometre basis in the GCC model, which is decided in advance through a competitive bidding process.
PMI Electro has 144 e-buses in operation in Nagpur, making Mumbai its second place of operations in Maharashtra.
In total, PMI Electro has sold over 1,700 e-buses across the country.
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The deal follows the implementation of the Union government's flagship EV subsidy scheme PM E-Drive, which allocated about 40% of its ₹10,900 crore outlay to public transportation till FY 26.
A total of ₹4,391 crore is allocated for the procurement of 14,028 electric buses by State Transport Undertakings (STUs) or public transport agencies under the PM E-Drive scheme, indicating that transport undertakings can purchase electric buses with a subsidy of a little over ₹30 lakh per bus.
Government's electric push
The deal also comes against the backdrop of the Union government launching a payment security mechanism (PSM) for e-bus manufacturers, ensuring that payment dues are effectively cleared by state or municipal transport undertakings.
The PM e-Bus Sewa-PSM notified on 28 October this year has an outlay of ₹3,435.33 crore to support the deployment of over 38,000 e-buses in the country, as per the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
The electrification of public transport has gained speed after the launch of both these Union government schemes, as PMI Electro Moblity's competitor JBM Ecolife Moblity Pvt Ltd secured a $100 million funding for manufacturing e-buses, Mint reported on 17 September.
Over the past year, PMI Electro, however, has had its share of regulatory woes.
Also read | Ola Electric: Cutting the noise and next steps
After securing approximately ₹500 crore in subsidies under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) vehicles scheme, the company came under the scanner of the ministry of heavy industries for allegedly violating localisation norms by importing Chinese components, Mint reported on 29 May.
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Business NewsCompaniesPMI Electro to supply 250 electric buses to Mumbai municipality
First Published:5 Dec 2024, 07:58 PM IST
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