Tenders floated to procure e-buses under Central scheme: Hardeep Puri

The government has floated tenders for procuring electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

Under the scheme, 10,000 electric buses will be provided to 169 cities under the public-private partnership model.

Addressing a press conference, Puri said his ministry's officials were in touch with bus manufacturers. "Tenders have been floated to procure buses. The bidding will be completed by the end of January."

According to the plan, people travelling in these buses can buy tickets through an automatic fare system while the operators will be paid based on the travel distance.

The scheme, which will continue till 2037, will have an outlay of Rs 57,613 crore, of which Rs 20,000 crore will be provided by the Central government and the remaining will be borne by the states.

The government said priority will be given to cities which do not have an organised bus service.

Talking about his ministry's achievements in the last year, Puri said, "The year 2023 was a standout year for urban governance in India."

Since 2014, the Union government has undertaken transformational programmatic interventions to develop urban infrastructure and strengthen urban governance with a strong focus on pro-poor welfare, he said.

Referring to the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), Puri said 1.18 crore houses have been approved under the scheme which is around nine times of earlier 13.46 lakh houses under JnNURM and RAY.

"Different sections of society have benefited tremendously from our interventions this year, be it street vendors, informal urban workers, women and the girl child, low-income and middle-income families seeking the dignity of a house, tap water connections, sanitation, and other basic services," Puri added.