
Hyderabad: The Centre has rejected Telangana’s proposal to procure 2,800 electric buses under the PM e-Drive scheme.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries, Bhupathiraju Srinivasa Varma, in response to a question posed by Warangal Congress MP Kadiyam Kavya in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, July 29.
Minister Varma clarified that the Centre supports Operational Expenditure (OPEX)/Gross Cost Contract (GCC) models under the PM e-Drive scheme to provide buses for public transport.
He added that Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) procures e-buses through competitive bidding.
However, the Union minister revealed that the Telangana government had requested the provision of e-buses under a Hybrid GCC (Gross Cost Contract) model.
This deviation from the standard OPEX/GCC models supported by the scheme led to the rejection of Telangana’s proposal.