Centre flags delay in Karnataka approvals for e-bus procurement

Centre flags delayed approvals from Karnataka in 4,500 electric bus procurement

Synopsis

The Centre has flagged delayed approvals for electric buses by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation. Incentives worth Rs 1,505 crore are currently held up due to these delays. Other cities like Hyderabad and Surat have received their electric bus approvals. Delhi government is also expected to issue approvals by mid-July. Additional demand for electric buses has been received from several states.

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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 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 Rs 4,391 crore allocation for deployment of 14,028 electric buses across large cities.

Officials said a review of the scheme progress found that Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is yet to issue a Letter of Award (LoA) for the 4,500 e-buses allocated to it. The first tender for procurement and deployment of 10,900 electric buses (e-buses) concluded in December 2025.

“Approvals have been given by concerned authorities in Hyderabad (915 e-buses), Surat (600 e-buses),” a senior official told ET, adding Concession Agreements for more e-buses in Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are expected to be signed during the second week of July 2026. The Delhi government is also expected to issue approvals by mid-July 2026.

Officials said requests have been received for another 4,220 e-buses from the states. These include additional demand of 500 e-buses for Surat, 600 for Hyderabad, 2,000 for Andhra Pradesh, 900 for Rajasthan, 20 for Meghalaya, and 200 for Jammu & Kashmir.