Jaipur: Eight city transport corporations in Rajasthan, including Jaipur City Transport Services Limited (JCTSL), will soon sign agreements with Chartered Speed, a company contracted through a bidding process floated by the Union govt’s subsidiary, Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), to operate 675 electric buses. Confirming the development, Narayan Singh, managing director of JCTSL, said CESL contracted this company to operate e-buses in 13 cities across the country, including Jaipur, under the Pradhan Mantri e-Bus Sewa Scheme. Of JCTSL’s share of 675 e-buses, 150 will be kept for Jaipur and the rest distributed to seven other cities in Rajasthan.“Now, the company will sign separate agreements with all eight city transport corporations and equip the depots with infrastructure suitable for the operations of e-buses. Buses will be allotted in phases within the next five to nine months,” Singh said.Two types of AC e-buses, one 9 metres in length and the other of 12 metres, will be operated under this scheme. The six other cities where the e-buses will operate are Bhilawara, Udaipur, Kota, Jodhpur, Alwar, Bikaner, and Ajmer. Under Pradhan Mantri e-Bus Sewa Scheme, Union govt will take responsibility for 50% of the viability gap funding (VGF). An official explained, “Say, if JCTSL’s operation cost is Rs 100 and revenue generation is only Rs 60, the state govt pays the subsidy of the remaining Rs 40. Under this scheme, the Union govt will bear Rs 20 of the subsidy amount.” Besides, JCTSL will also procure 300 CNG-run minibuses to be operated by private operators. Officials, however, said the 150 e-buses and the 300 minibuses won’t meet the need for city buses in Jaipur, which needs around 2,200 buses. At present, while JCTSL operates around 250 buses, there are around 600 private buses.Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma recently took up this issue with the Union govt. The centre is ready to provide more buses to Rajasthan under the Pradhan Mantri e-Bus Sewa Scheme, another official disclosed.
