PM-eBUS SEWA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Infrastructure)

Context: The Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved a bus scheme “PM-eBus Sewa” for augmenting city bus operation by 10,000 e-buses on PPP model. 

• The Scheme would have an estimated cost of Rs.57,613 crore, out of which support of Rs.20,000 crore will be provided by the Central government. The Scheme will support bus operations for 10 years.

Key Points

• The scheme will cover cities of Three lakh and above population as per census 2011 including all the Capital cities of Union Territories, North Eastern Region and Hill States. 
• Under this scheme priority will be given to cities having no organized bus service.

• The Scheme has two segments:

• Segment A – Augmenting the City bus services:(169 cities)
• The approved bus scheme will augment city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• Associated Infrastructure will provide support for Development/ up-gradation of depot infrastructure; and Creation of behind-the-meter power infrastructure (substation, etc.) for e-buses.
• Segment B– Green Urban Mobility Initiatives (GUMI): (181 cities)
• The scheme envisages green initiatives like bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, NCMC-based Automated Fare Collection Systems, Charging infrastructure, etc.
• Support for Operation: Under the scheme, States/Cities shall be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators.  
• The Central Government will support these bus operations by providing subsidy to the extent specified in the proposed scheme.