Telangana Road Transport Corporation to deploy 300 electric buses

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) will deploy 300 electric buses worth ₹500 crore in its fleet, which will be supplied to it by Olectra Greentech Ltd. The Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) group company, Evey Trans Private Ltd (EVEY), has received the Letter of Award (LoA) from TSRTC for supply of 300 electric buses to TSRTC.

The buses will be delivered to the Telangana Transport Department over a period of 20 months. The order of 300 electric buses will be delivered under the FAME-II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme of the government. These will be supplied on a Gross Cost Contract (GCC)/OPEX model basis for 12 years.

While the contract period lasts, Olectra will undertake the maintenance of these electric buses. This transaction between Olectra and EVEY will be considered related-party transactions and shall be on an arm's length basis.

At present, both EVEY and Olectra Greentech Ltd are operating electric buses in various State Transport Undertakings (STU) in the country such as in Surat, Ahmedabad, Silvasa, Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai, Goa, and Deharadun.

These buses will be 12-metre, low-floor, non-AC vehicles with a seating capacity of 35 wheel chair D (Driver). The buses will come equipped with an electronically-controlled air suspension system that ensures a comfortable ride. These buses are equipped with CCTV cameras to ensure the safety of the commuters, an emergency button and USB sockets for each seat.

The buses will get lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery installed in the bus and can travel up to 200 kilometres on a single charge of 80 per cent, based on traffic and passenger load conditions. Other features of the bus includes regenerative braking system which allows the bus to recover part of the kinetic energy lost in braking. Then there is a high-power DC charging system that enables the battery to charge in less than five hours.

(with inputs from PTI)