Centre plans Rs 12,000 crore incentive scheme to spur private electric bus adoption

New Delhi: The Centre is drawing up a scheme that could offer interest subvention, partial credit guarantees and capital subsidies to support electric bus purchases by private fleet owners, officials said.

"A scheme is being worked out. It could offer incentives of around ₹12,000 crore," a senior official told ET.

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The proposed incentives could also include waivers of toll charges and vehicle registration fees, the official said, adding that a final decision on the scheme and its incentives will be taken soon. The proposed partial credit guarantee will de-risk lending by banks, while interest subvention could lower financing costs by 3-5%, encouraging wider adoption of electric buses, the official said.

The government aims to support the deployment of 50,000 electric buses over 10 years, with funds to be disbursed over the next five years.

Officials expect the scheme to unlock ₹70,000 crore-₹80,000 crore of private investment in the sector.

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The proposed scheme will be modelled on the PM E-Drive programme, which supports electric bus purchases by government entities through demand incentives for 13,800 buses. Another 10,000 electric buses have been sanctioned under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, which aims to accelerate the adoption of electric buses under the public-private partnership model through a payment security mechanism.

Earlier this month, the Union Cabinet approved a two-year, ₹9,585 crore scheme to reduce air pollution in the national capital and adjoining regions while promoting cleaner mobility.

The scheme, to be funded through the National Capital Region Planning Board, is expected to benefit about 207,000 vehicle owners, including 191,000 truck owners and 16,329 bus owners, across the National Capital Region.