Sources told CNBC-TV18 exclusively on Tuesday that the government is set to launch a tender to procure 10,000 electric buses. The tenders are likely to be launched next month to procure the buses under the PM E-drive scheme.
CESL, or Convergence Energy Services Ltd. will issue a tender to choose the intra-city e-bus operator for nine cities and the centre will extend a subsidy of nearly ₹3,000 crore to procure these buses, the sources added.
The nine cities include Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Kolkata.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries has capped the maximum subsidy amount at ₹35 lakh per electric bus and most of the states have demanded 12 meter electric buses for intracity use.
The PM E-Drive scheme was launched by the government in September 2024. The outlay of ₹10,900 crore is applicable till March 2026.
JBM Auto’s subsidiary JBM Ecolife Mobility had won a ₹5,500 crore order under the PM eBus Seva Scheme-II in February this year.
Shares of JBM Auto are trading 10.2% higher at ₹689, but remain well below their recent peak of ₹1,169. Shares of Olectra Greentech are also trading 6.6% higher at ₹1,257, and have nearly halved from their recent peak of ₹1,960.
Both stocks are the top gainers on the Nifty 500 index on Wednesday and have surged 32% and 24% over the last one month respectively.
