Centre flags delay in Karnataka approvals for e-bus procurement

New Delhi: The Centre has flagged delayed approvals by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation in procurement of 4,500 electric buses.

In a communication to the Karnataka government, the union heavy industries ministry said a tender for electric buses under the PM E-DRIVE scheme concluded last year but letters of award for the provisioned buses are yet to be issued by the state.

Officials said incentives worth Rs 1,505 crore cannot be disbursed due to these differences between the centre and Karnataka government. PM E-DRIVE is the flagship electric vehicle incentive scheme of the centre with a ₹4,391 crore allocation for deployment of 14,028 electric buses across large cities.