Delhi’s public transport fleet is set to receive 840 electric buses after SWITCH Mobility Ltd secured an order from Antony Road Transport Solutions under Phase I of the Government of India’s PM E-Drive scheme tender.
The order covers 420 nine-metre buses and 420 12-metre buses, all with air-conditioning. Antony Road Transport Solutions has been selected as the operator for Delhi under the CESL-run PM E-Drive tender, according to the announcement reported by The Hindu BusinessLine.
SWITCH Mobility, part of the Hinduja Group, will supply the buses. The order places both nine-metre and 12-metre electric vehicles within the same deployment, indicating that the contracted fleet is intended to include buses of different capacities for public transport operations in the capital.
The tender has been conducted under the PM E-Drive scheme through CESL. The supplied announcement does not specify the routes on which the buses will operate, the delivery schedule, charging locations, depot arrangements or the commercial terms of the order. It also does not state whether the buses will replace existing vehicles or add to the operating fleet.
For Delhi commuters, the immediate significance of the order is the planned expansion of air-conditioned electric bus capacity. The operational effect will depend on when the buses are delivered, how they are distributed across routes and whether the supporting charging and depot infrastructure is ready. None of those implementation details was provided in the announcement.
The order also reflects the growing role of public procurement programmes in bringing electric buses into city transport systems. Rather than relying only on individual fleet operators to purchase vehicles, the CESL PM E-Drive tender provides the framework through which an operator selected for Delhi can contract an electric-bus manufacturer.
The announcement describes the order as part of the increasing adoption of electric buses for public transportation, driven by the need for efficient, sustainable and commercially viable mobility solutions. However, it does not provide figures on expected passenger capacity, emissions reduction, operating costs or the number of daily services that the 840 buses will support.
The next publicly relevant milestones will be the release of the delivery schedule, confirmation of the buses’ routes and depots, and details of the charging infrastructure required to place the vehicles into service. The supplied announcement does not give dates for those steps.
