DTC Fleet Receives 50 New Electric Buses Under FAME India Phase II Program

As many as 50 electric buses have been launched in Delhi with support from the Ministry of Heavy Industries’ FAME India Phase II program, the government announced on Monday.

In 2019, the government approved Rs. 10,000 crore for a period of three years. Of the total budget support, around 86% of the fund was allocated to incentives to create demand for electric vehicles.

Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey said the government had placed orders for 3,538 electric buses. Of these, a total of 1,716 buses have been deployed so far.

Pandey said that for the Union Territory of Delhi, 400 electric buses – 300 in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) for intra-city operations and 100 in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for last mile connectivity – have were sanctioned in August 2019.

“Orders for supplies had to be placed by January 15, 2020. DMRC issued an order for supplies in December 2019 to successful bidders, while Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) could only issue an order for supplies in March 2021. For facilitate DTC, MHI has extended the last date of ordering supplies by DTC to March 31, 2021, as a special case to provide world-class pollution-free public transport system in Delhi,” according to the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

With the launch of the 50 buses today, the commitment to provide 300 electric buses to DTC has been fulfilled, the ministry said.

Earlier this year, the Delhi government approved the introduction of 1,500 electric low-floor buses into its public transport fleet. As a first step, the DTC has decided to allocate 10 sites to different agencies for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and battery exchange stations.