Two years. That’s how long Nitin Gadkari, India’s transport minister, believes India will take to switch from using fuel-powered buses to electric ones for public transport. Gadkari made this prediction in September.
That’s a bold prediction considering it has barely been a year since India started this transition. According to research think tank Intelligent Transport, there are 170,000 public transport buses in India, ferrying roughly 70 million people daily. The electric bus count, however, is just around 200, with another 170 set to hit roads soon.
This gap is an opportunity for bus makers. India’s electric bus market—which stood at $47.4 million in 2018—is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 37.6% through 2024, according to management consulting company TechSci Research.
The opportunity is also evident in the government’s allocation of funds towards electric buses in March 2019 under its FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicle) program. While aimed at driving the adoption of electric 2-, 3- and 4-wheelers, the focus of FAME II’s Rs 8,595 crore ($1.21 billion) budget is clearly on buses. Of the total corpus, Rs 3,545 crore ($500 million)—about 41%—is earmarked to subsidise the purchase of 5,595 buses for various state transport undertakings (STUs).
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Written by Pranav Balakrishnan
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