Puducherry to get 25 electric buses in one month, government to sign agreement with Evey Trans shortly

Puducherry government partners with Evey Trans Pvt Ltd and Olectra Greentech Ltd to introduce 25 electric buses in the city.

 The Puducherry government has finalised it decision to hire the consortium of Evey Trans Pvt Ltd (EVEY) and Olectra Greentech Ltd to supply, operate and maintain 25 electric buses and establish allied infrastructure, including charging stations, in the city.

Official sources said the government will be signing the Letter of Agreement (LoA) with Evey shortly. The supply order will be executed within a few days.

Evey already operates electric buses in various cities, and the prototype of the first electric bus is expected to be supplied in one month. The State Transport Department will check whether the prototype meets all requirements and technical specifications, following which the Puducherry government is expected to give its nod to its ambitious plan to switch to green mobility in the Union Territory.

“The first tranche of electric buses is expected in one month while the remaining will be supplied subsequently. They will have a separate colour scheme. The 25 buses (10 AC and 15 Non-AC) will be 9-metre buses. In June last year, the U.T. administration tested the Proof of Concept ( POC) of an electric bus from the selected private firm. A weight of 1,750 kg was put on the buses and based on the report of an inspection team, a decision was taken to issue the Letter of Intent to initiate the purchase of the buses,” said a senior official of the Transport Department.

The government has sanctioned ₹23 crore as initial seed funding under the Smart City project in the first phase for the procurement of the buses, which will ply on 15 tentative routes within urban areas. The buses will be operated under a viability gap funding model.”

The official added that the operator will establish charging stations and allied infrastructure with annual fleet-level guaranteed operations of 200 km per day per bus, for a period of 12 years. The operator is to foot the electricity cost and all maintenance costs of the buses.

The Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) or Puducherry Urban Transport Agency (PUTA) will be responsible for the fare collection and passenger tax on tickets, while all other permissions and clearances including registration, insurance, stage carrier permit, Motor Vehicle Tax, and GST on kilometre charges will be borne by the operator.