Tata Motors Bags Order to Supply, Operate and Maintain 1,500 Electric Buses For DTC

Tata Motors on Friday said it has bagged an order for 1,500 electric buses from Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) as part of a tender by Convergence Energy Services.

The auto major will supply, operate and maintain air-conditioned, low-floor, 12-metre fully-built electric buses for 12 years, as per the contract, it said in a statement.

"The delivery of these buses will further fortify our partnership with DTC and help in environment-friendly mass mobility for the city of Delhi. We are committed towards modernising public transportation in India and keep sustainability at the core in the designing of futuristic vehicles," Tata Motors Vice President, Product Line – Buses, Rohit Srivastava said in a statement.

The Mumbai-based company has already supplied more than 650 electric buses across multiple cities in India, which have cumulatively clocked more than 39 million kilometres.

Delhi Transport Corporation MD Neeraj Semwal said the induction of the environment-friendly buses will help largely in reducing air pollution and benefit millions of citizens.

Convergence Energy Services (CESL) MD and CEO Mahua Acharya said that the Delhi Government has shown exemplary leadership in transitioning over to electric buses. "We are fortunate to have benefited from this and are thankful to Tata Motors in their generous collaboration," she added.

Recently, Tata Motors' Chairman N Chandrasekaran announced in a shareholders' meeting that the company aims to sell about 50,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in the fiscal year to March 31, and double that in the 2023-24 period.

In 2021-22, Tata Motors sold 19,105 EVs, a growth of 353 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Electrification is the cornerstone of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's climate change and carbon reduction agenda and EVs are seen as a way to help India to cut its oil import bill and reduce pollution in major cities.

India wants electric models to make up 30 percent of total passenger car sales in the country by 2030, up from about 1 percent today, and e-scooters and e-bikes to account for 80 percent of total two-wheeler sales, up from about 2 percent.