Top electric bus makers gear up for govt’s 6,230-bus mega tender

Delhi, grappling with severe air pollution, will get the largest allocation of 3,330 electric buses through this round of procurement, the tender document, reviewed by Mint, showed.

The submission of bids for the players opened on 9 January, and will run till 10 March. The latest electric bus tender comes weeks after the country concluded the largest ever tender of 10,900 ebuses under the Centre’s PM E-Drive scheme, where new age manufacturers PMI Electro Mobility and Eka Mobility secured more than two-third share of ebuses.

Companies such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd (Volvo-Eicher), PMI Electro Mobility, Eka Mobility, and Olectra Greentech are involved in the manufacturing of electric buses.

The tender is issued by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL), a government undertaking responsible for aggregating demand for electric buses in the country.

CESL confirmed the details of the tender in an emailed response to Mint's queries. A company spokesperson for Eka Mobility confirmed that the company will participate in the tender. Queries sent to other e-bus makers did not elicit a response till press time.

"Given a large fleet of around 150,000 buses being run by government authorities in the country, there appears to be scope for replacement demand for electric buses," said Sanyam Gandhi, whole-time director, Chartered Speed Ltd, said. “The model of collaboration between e-bus makers and operators is intended to help in meeting the large demand for such buses in the next few years."

The tender comprises eight lots spread across the five cities. After Delhi, Mumbai will receive 1,500 buses, Pune 1,000, while Hyderabad and Ahmedabad will each get 200 each. The demand spans multiple configurations, including 7-metre, 9-metre and 12-metre electric buses, both AC and non-AC.

Electric buses typically cost between ₹85 lakh and ₹1.8 crore. Assuming an average price of ₹1 crore per unit, the tender could generate business worth well over ₹6,000 crore for manufacturers.

Like in past tenders, the government has once again opted for the gross cost contracting (GCC) model under which the payment is done on a per kilometre basis over a set period of time, usually 10-12 years.

Electric bus makers participate in these tenders through fleet operators who are responsible for procuring the electric buses and running them for the respective city/state transport authorities.

This way, automakers avoid holding electric buses on their own balance sheet and can focus on manufacturing operations only, while fleet operators don’t have to invest in making the buses.

In the recently concluded 10,900 e-bus tender, leading players like Tata Motors, Eka Mobility, Olectra Greentech, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd and others participated through bus operators like Chartered Speed, and GreenCell Mobility, among others.

The latest tender of more than 6,000 buses is being seen as important for legacy players like Tata Motors, Switch Mobility, and VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd, who lost out on the 10,900 e-bus tender.

To be sure, the final decision on whether to participate in this tender will be taken by these companies as participation remains at their own discretion based on capacities and pending order books.

Companies like PMI Electro Mobility and Eka Mobility offered aggressive, lucrative pricing, securing contracts for 5,210 and 3,485 e-buses, respectively. Among other manufacturers, only Olectra Greentech, an established electric bus manufacturer and a subsidiary of Hyderabad-based EPC company Megha Engineering, managed a partial win, bagging 1,785 e-buses.

While Tata Motors and VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd did not manage to win a single ebus in the bidding process, Ashok Leyland was not able to participate in the bidding process owing to what it claims was a technical glitch for which it has moved the Delhi High Court.

The government is doubling down on pushing electric buses in major cities of the country, with automakers also ramping up their own capacities.

Total registrations of electric buses in the country have increased from 1,988 in 2022 to 4,408 in 2025, with automakers preparing to meet the rising demand of such vehicles.

On Friday, Ashok Leyland inaugurated a new greenfield facility for the manufacturing of electric vehicles near Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Eka Mobility is increasing its capacity to 6,000 electric buses by the end of this financial year. PMI Electro Mobility is building a new plant in Neemrana, Rajasthan which will have a capacity of 15,000 units annually.