Telangana govt.’s plan to add EV buses sparks concerns about job losses among TGSRTC unions

Telangana government's plan to add electric buses to fleet sparks concerns of job losses among workers unions.

The Telangana government’s plan to augment its bus fleet with electric vehicles has caused concern among certain workers unions. Union leaders fear that these electric buses that will be inducted on gross cost contract (GCC) model, would lead to job losses.

The Telangana government, including Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, waxed eloquent on several occasions on adding electric buses to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) fleet. An estimated 3,000 electric buses are likely to replace ageing buses that run on diesel. The rationale, they said, is to reduce the carbon footprint, and bring about a more environment-friendly public transport ecosystem.

TGSRTC unions — SWU and SWF — have announced that they would launch a protest against the State government’s move to add electric buses to the fleet. They maintained that these buses would be pressed into service by means of the GCC, a model in which the corporation pays the vendor (a private player) per kilometre, which would eventually translate into problems of workers of the TGSRTC. The unions claimed that mechanics, drivers and conductors would be affected by the induction of electric buses.

On the one hand, the unions stated that they welcome adding electric buses to the fleet. But, on the other hand, they demanded that provisions be made that the TGSRTC itself owns and operates these buses. The Union government’s push to increase by 2030 electric vehicles across segments and categories, could lead to large scale job losses for State road transport undertaking workers.

According to E. Raji Reddy, General Secretary, SWU, the protests from January 24 to January 25 will be held across the TGSRTC’s depots and will see workers wearing ‘demand badges’ on duty. Apart from the demand of TGSRTC being allowed to procure and operate electric buses on their own, others include that the State and Union governments extend financial assistance to the transport juggernaut to procure electric buses.

According to official data, till March 2024, the TGSRTC had a fleet strength of 9,094 buses of which as many 2,726 were hired buses. More recent data from the transport behemoth’s Greater Hyderabad Zone — a jurisdictional area that comprises Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits as well as the IT Corridor — suggests a fleet strength of nearly 3,000 buses. Of this a little over 260 are hired buses. The electric fleet strength is a little over 250 buses. Electric buses have been taken on gross cost contract model.