CESL launches tender for over 5K electric buses
Chennai: Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), on thursday announced the floating of a request for proposals for the biggest ever demand for electric buses, under the ‘Grand Challenge’ — a set of homogenized demand for electric buses aggregated across five major cities. The scheme includes 100% electric buses and aims to reduce the operating costs for cities, removing bottlenecks of procuring e-buses by State Transport Undertakings (STUs), instituting best in class practices, and operating standards and enabling operational and passenger efficiencies by evolving into a platform for modernization of city bus. The cities to be covered under this “Grand Challenge” are Bangalore, Delhi, Surat, Hyderabad, and Kolkata in the first phase. The first lot of e-buses are expected to hit the roads by July this year.
Through this Grand Challenge, CESL aims to deploy 5450 single decker buses and 130 double decker buses. CESL intends to enhance its support to state governments in achieving their electric mobility targets as well as further build an infrastructure for electric mobility in the country.
