Gurugram misses another deadline to procure electric buses

The Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) could not get electric buses for its fleet even this year due to several delays and a decision to change the procurement method, officials said on Thursday. Twice firms were finalised to supply a batch of 100 buses but in one case, the state government rejected the firm due to its weak financial background, and in the second case due to the higher price of the buses, GMCBL officials said.

The batch of 100 AC electric buses under PM e-bus sewa scheme will now likely be procured by mid-2025, said Colonel Rameshwar Dass Singhal (retired), general manager (mobility division) of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA). GMCBL operates under the ambit of GMDA.

“We have decided to procure another batch of 200 e-buses by 2026 via tendering through Convergence Energy Services Limited, a subsidiary under the Union ministry of power, which is also selecting firms for supplying electric buses under PM e-bus sewa scheme,” he said.

“The construction of 154 bus queue shelters across new areas in the city and a dedicated depot for electric buses in Sector 48 is set to begin soon. These steps are being taken keeping in mind the arrival of the e-buses for giving better connectivity to Delhi and neighbouring cities. The Sector 10 bus depot will also be transformed into an electric bus depot,” said Singhal, adding, “300 more AC electric buses will be procured in financial year 2027-2028 for increasing GMCBL fleet strength to 800 buses.”

Under GMDA’s comprehensive mobility plan-2031, the city requires 1,000 buses and 10 depots in the next six years. GMCBL currently has 207 buses and two depots, far less than public demand. Of these 207 buses, 150 operate in Gurugram city and 50 in Faridabad. The buses operate on 23 routes in Gurugram and 12 in Faridabad.

In December 2021, GMCBL had planned to procure 100 CNG mini-buses to run them as feeder service on narrow roads across the city for fetching passengers to its main fleet. However, by June 2022, the plan was scuttled as GMDA and state government decided to procure electric buses instead.

In 2023, GMCBL was allocated 100 electric buses under the central government’s PM-eBus Sewa scheme, as part of a package of 550 electric buses that the state government was procuring for Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Rohtak, Hisar and Rewari, Gurugram and Faridabad. However, considering the demand in Gurugram, the number of buses to be procured for Gurugram was increased to 100.

The batch of 550 buses were meant to be supplied by multiple firms after selection by CESL. In March, a batch of the electric buses were delivered to Panchkula, Karnal and other places but the buses for Gurugram did not arrive because the firms could not be finalised. Officials next expected the buses to arrive in June, but that did not happen because the supplier could not be selected.

“Twice, the firms were finalised by state government through tendering to supply the buses. The first time, the finalised firm was rejected by the state government because its financial condition was weak, and it had no prior experience in supplying electric buses. The second time, the finalised firm was rejected by a high-powered committee because the rates quoted by it for buses were higher than the budget,” said a senior GMDA official on condition of anonymity.