GUWAHATI, Assam: The Government of Assam is to get 100 electric buses from the Department of Heavy Industry, Government of India, which earlier sanctioned a total of 5595 electric buses for 64 cities under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME II) scheme to improve intercity and intra-city transportation.
Out of a total of 100 electric buses, Guwahati will get 50 buses while Jorhat and Silchar will get 25 buses each.
Earlier, the Department invited the Expression of Interest (EoI) from million-plus cities, smart cities, states and union territories for the deployment of electric buses on an operational cost basis.
The selected cities are asked to start the procurement process in a time bound manner for the timely deployment of e-buses. However, the department will provide funding for only those buses that meet the required localisation standards and other technical specifications as mentioned under the provision of the FAME India scheme.
These buses will reduce fuel usage by approximately 1.2 billion liters thus reducing the carbon emission of India by 2.6 million tonnes.