Tata Motors emerges lowest bidder in mega tender for 5,450 electric buses across 5 cities

In a big shot in the arm for Tata's electric vehicle aspirations, Tata Motors has emerged as the lowest bidder in the mega tender for 5,450 electric buses floated by Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) under the remodelled FAME II scheme, the government said on Tuesday. 

As per Heavy Industry Ministry, the tender contains the largest ever aggregation of electric buses - 5,450 buses across five major cities which have indicated their demand for electric buses. The participating cities are Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Surat. 

Tata Motors is the least cost bidder across all five categories with discovered prices of 15-48% lower than discovered by the cities and even at par or close to the operational cost of diesel vehicles, according to official releases. 

Here are key highlights of the mega bidding 

- The lowest price discovered for a 12-meter bus is Rs. 43.49/km, and a 9-m bus is Rs. 39.21/km. 

- The prices are at par with or very close to the operational cost of diesel buses and includes the cost of electricity for charging of the buses. 

- The buses are expected to operate around 4.71 billion kilometers over 12 years saving 1.88 billion liters of fossil fuel. 

- This will result in 3.31 million tonnes of CO2e from tailpipe emissions, a major step towards mitigating climate change. 

- The contract term is 12 years, with assured kilometers of 10 lacs per bus. 

"This tender establishes a benchmark for public transit going forward in terms of a business model. It allows state agencies to purchase mobility as a service - where operators are paid a fixed price denominated as rupees per kilometre over a period of time," news agency PTI quoted Heavy Industry Ministry in a statement.