Electric bus tenders get a lift from ₹4,100 cr payment fund
NEW DELHI : The government is ready to offer a payment security mechanism to vehicle manufacturers who bid for its tenders for electric buses, after the failure of the previous bidding round, according to several people in the government and industry. Under the mechanism, manufacturers who participate in an ‘own and operate’ bid will be assured of payments by the state transport units for their service. If transporters fail to make timely payments, bus makers will be able to receive funds from a corpus set up by the government.
The mechanism, the outcome of a joint initiative by the US and Indian governments, was necessitated because many state transport units are in poor financial health. Under the mechanism, a ₹4,100 crore fund will be set up by the Centre, of which ₹1,200 crore will be provided by the US, according to a senior government official. Under the gross cost contract (GCC) model, manufacturers own and operate the buses for a fixed per-kilometre payout.
The next government tender, for 10,000 electric buses, will be floated under the PM e-bus sewa programme. The payment security mechanism is modelled along the lines of the one set up under SECI, or the Solar Energy Corporation of India. As with the solar power scheme, the e-bus services will come with guarantees from state governments that will enable the Reserve Bank of India to make direct payments to operators in case of delays or if state transporters default on payments.
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