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The share of electric buses (e-buses) in new bus sales in India is set to double to 8 per cent next financial year 2024-25 from 4 per cent this fiscal, according to Crisil Ratings.
It attributed two factors including the central government's focus on decarbonising public transportation and the relatively favourable total cost of ownership. Under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) and National Electric Bus Programme (NEBP) programmes, launched in 2015 and 2022, respectively, state transportation units initiated e-bus procurement through two models: gross cost contract and outright purchase. As per the rating agency Crisil, as many as 5,760 of these e-buses have been delivered to date, and 10,000 will be deployed in this and the next fiscal. "Though the initial acquisition cost of an e-bus is twice that of an internal combustion engine or compressed natural gas, it is expected to reduce on account of improving the operational efficiency of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with increasing scale and localisation and decreasing battery costs," Crisil said. However, it contended that a few adoption-related challenges loom. One among them is inadequate battery charging infrastructure, which is critical in intercity bus operations. Pallavi Singh, Team Leader, CRISIL Ratings, said the recently announced PM-eBus Sewa Scheme will help in giving a fillip to e-bus adoption. So far, e-bus sales have been largely driven by government initiatives targeted towards the public transport sector. Adoption in the private sector remains low. Thus, Crisil argued development of a policy framework aimed at increasing participation of the private sector, which accounts for about 90 per cent of the bus fleet in the country, will also be critical to speed up the penetration of e-buses. (ANI)
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