FILE PHOTO: An electric vehicle is plugged into a charging station in Bilbao, Spain, February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Vincent West
State electric vehicle (EV) policies have outlined specific targets and timelines for adoption of e-buses, establishing a clear roadmap for electrification. The continued growth in demand for e-buses, keeping in mind the significant savings in operating costs compared to conventional diesel buses.
Progress towards achieving the e-bus deployment targets under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme has continued. The pace is expected to increase till the end of the scheme in March 2024.
The government has sought to promote e-bus adoption through consolidation of bids and tenders issued by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL). All India aggregation for ebus operations will be done by Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) on Gross Cost Contract (GCC) – wet lease model.
Despite successful OEM partnerships in the initial tenders, CESL’s third tender faced limited participation due to concerns about the absence of payment security mechanisms and the proposed dry lease model. Addressing these concerns is considered important to sustain the growing pace of ebus adoption.Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) is a newly established subsidiary of state-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited, itself a joint venture of public sector companies under the Ministry of Power, Government of India.
CESL is focused on delivering clean, affordable and reliable energy. Convergence focuses on energy solutions that lie at the confluence of renewable energy, electric mobility and climate change.
It builds upon the decentralized solar development experience in under-served rural communities in India, and over time, using battery energy storage, will deliver renewable energy solutions to power agricultural pumps, street lighting, domestic lighting and cooking appliances in villages.
CESL will also work to enable battery powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India. To enable commercialization of these solutions at scale, Convergence will employ business models that utilize a blend of concessional and commercial capital, carbon finance and grants as appropriate.
