Mumbai to receive 150 more double-decker electric buses

Mumbai is set to receive the remaining 150 air-conditioned double-decker electric buses after the BEST committee approved an increase in the per-kilometre rate under the existing contract, officials said on Wednesday.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) had awarded a contract for 200 double-decker e-buses to Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model. The company has supplied 50 buses so far, while the remaining 150 were held up following a dispute over the operating rate, a BEST official said.

The BEST committee, the governing body of the public transport undertaking, on Wednesday approved a proposal to increase the GCC rate by Rs 3.65 per km for the remaining 150 double-decker e-buses.

The proposed increase includes Rs 2.87 per km towards development-related expenditure for the Electronic Vehicle Stability Control (EVSC) system and Rs 0.78 per km for its maintenance.

The proposal seeks to amend the existing contract with Switch Mobility to incorporate the revised rate and facilitate the supply of the remaining 150 buses.

According to the proposal, the buses will be operated under the 12-year contract, with the additional cost to be met through the revised GCC rate.

Following the rate revision, BEST will pay Rs 60.25 per km to Switch Mobility, according to the proposal.

The move is aimed at completing the stalled induction of the double-decker electric buses into the BEST fleet.

In 2022, the BEST committee had approved the hiring of 200 buses from the firm. The company subsequently supplied the first double-decker e-bus to BEST and later delivered 50 buses before stopping the supply of the remaining vehicles.

In a release, Trishna Vishwasrao, chairman of the BEST committee, said that she has suggested supplying a few of these buses as open-deck buses.

BEST has been expanding its electric-bus fleet through wet-lease contracts as part of its transition towards cleaner public transport.

BEST currently operates around 2,800 buses, including a little over 200 owned by the undertaking. Most of the buses are hired from private operators under GCC or wet-lease models.

BEST ferries around 25 lakh passengers daily.