BYD/Goldstone and Tata win India’s electric bus bid
India has made a decision for the manufacturers which will provide the electric buses for the planned fleets of 520 vehicles in ten Indian cities. Winners were the joint venture between BYD and Goldstone and Tata Motors.
BYD and Goldstone will jointly deliver 290 electric buses, while another 190 are to come from Indian Tata. 40 more electric buses will be provided by Ashok Leyland, while Mahindra, Eicher Motors and JBM Solaris went home empty handed.
BYD sorted out contracts with Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad for a total of 290 electric buses. Tata Motors managed to win the bids for Jaipur, Indore, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati for a total of 190 buses. Ashok Leyland took the bid in Ahmedabad for 40 electric buses meanwhile.
A further 700 buses are designated for Delhi, but the bidding process has not begun yet.
According to The Economic Times, competitors have complained that the orders were so small, that they might not be profitable. This comes alongside the distinction that the vehicles will be sold at 30% under market value. Tata Motors, in particular, supposedly played the bid as low as possible. In general the prices for the buses vary heavily, according to insiders.
The ten cities started their bidding process in the last two months, and are receiving financial support from the Indian government department of heavy industries, which is working within the framework of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) scheme.
BYD and Goldstone are currently not only receiving the majority of contracts in India, but will begin production of a 25 million euro factory for electric buses in Bidar, in the Indian state of Karnataka this year. The joint venture is planning on a starting capacity of around 1,000 electric buses per year.
The Indian manufacturer Ashok Leyland had made headlines earlier this year when delivering the first electric bus to New Delhi.
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