The winners of a 30 billion Indian rupee ($362.40 million) contest sponsored by state-owned Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) are Ashok Leyland’s Switch Mobility, JBM Auto, and PMI Electro Mobility.
Switch Mobility was the lowest bidder of this CESL contract; for 2,600 electric buses in three states, JBM Auto for 1,781 e-buses in three states, and PMI Electro for 2,080 electric buses in two states.
CESL, which aggregates state demand for electric buses, published the offer on September 21 of last year, seeking to supply 6,465 e-buses for six states. The procurement was part of India’s intention to deploy 50,000 e-buses in phases over the next four to five years at a cost of one trillion rupees ($12 billion).
Prices revealed in the most recent tenders are 25%-30% higher in several categories than the previous bids conducted in April of last year.
“The costs are higher because the firms have factored in payment risks from state transportation authorities, as well as a lack of government assistance this time,” an industry official explained.
Tata Motors, which won a large portion of the previous contracts, did not participate in the latest bidding, citing concerns about the financial condition of state transportation undertakings, as well as Indian banks’ reluctance to lend to e-bus manufacturers for supplying state transportation operators.
This is a syndicate News Feed; edited by Clean-Future Team