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BJP’s plan to hire e-buses will add to Pune’s fiscal burden, say Congress, NCP
They have demanded a probe into the deal and have questioned the eagerness of the civic authorities to go ahead with the plan
The city units of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have opposed the e-bus procurement process initiated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations (PCMC), saying that the decision will add to the financial burden of the civic bodies.
Arvind Shinde, leader of the Congress in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said that the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited’s (PMPML) decision to hire 25 e-buses from Olectra Greentech Ltd by offering a non-refundable subsidy of ₹50 lakh for each bus, ₹40.32/km as hiring charges and also bear the electricity cost, was not in the best interests of the city.
“The Congress is not opposed to electric buses, but there is a need to check whether Pune really needs such expensive buses which will add to the financial burden on the civic body,” Shinde said.
Expressing similar sentiments, Chetan Tupe (NCP), leader of the Opposition in PMC, said it would be wise for the PMC to purchase regular compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for the same amount. “PMPML will get three times more number of buses which would be owned by the public transport utility and not the operator. Also, there would be no need to pay rent to the operator,” he said.
Tupe said as per the agreement between the PMPML and the operator, each bus (e-bus) will run 225 km per day, which means PMPML will have to pay ₹9,072 per bus per day, amounting to a daily rent of ₹2.26 lakh.
“If the number of electric buses goes up to 500 as has been planned, the cost to the civic bodies will be that much more. This agreement appears to be in favour of the private operator,” he said.
The NCP leader wondered why the existing contract was only for 25 buses which are of 9 metres length and the rest 475 buses, proposed to be hired, are 12 metres in length. “Are these the same 25 buses that were given to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (Best) in Mumbai and are now lying idle there due to a litigation?” he asked.
The Congress and the NCP have demanded a probe into the deal and have questioned the eagerness of the civic authorities to go ahead with the plan.
E-buses are need of the hour: BJP
Siddharth Shirole (BJP), PMPML director, defended the deal saying, “E-buses are the need of the hour. The private operator is bearing the cost of the buses and will also be undertaking maintenance of the buses. PMPML has compared the rates of e-buses running in all the major cities, including Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The Opposition is misleading the residents. The entire process is transparent. Although the former PMPML CMD Tukaram Munde had a different opinion on e-buses, the central and state governments have decided to promote e-buses in the country.”
Pune model for e-buses is best, says PMPML chief
Nayana Gunde, PMPML chairperson and managing director (CMD), said, “The central government is very keen on boosting electric transport in the entire country. They have set an ambitious target of plying all the public transport in the country on electric mode by 2030, which is our biggest motivation for promoting e-buses in Pune.” About the points raised by the opposition parties, Gunde said the opposition parties are comparing the PMPML model with the Bengaluru municipal corporation’s model when they say that PMPML rates are higher than other cities. “However, one has to understand that the subsidy we are giving is only ₹50 lakh per bus, while the Bengaluru corporation has given a subsidy of ₹1 crore per bus. Also, the Bengaluru civic body has borne the cost of developing the infrastructure needed for e-buses which is not the case with Pune. Hence, naturally, there will be some differences in the financial amount in transaction between both the models,” she said. Gunde said that given all the intricacies involved, “PMPML has the best model for e-buses.”
