Busworld Academy Conference in Bengaluru, India - Busworld India

As on March 10th 2020

     Busworld Academy Conference in Bengaluru, India
              Partner Organizations: ASRTU, KSRTC, BMTC
                              CONFERENCE THEME:

  Promoting Excellence in Public Transport for Safe, Smart and
            Sustainable Passenger Mobility in India.
1. DATE: 27-29 August 2020

2. VENUE: Bangalore International Exhibition Centre
Address: 10th Mile, Tumkur Main Road , Madavara Post Dasanapura, Hobli, Bengaluru,
Karnataka 562123 Phone: 080662 46600
Map:
https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Bangalore+International+Exhibition+Centre/@13.0625
009,77.4727482,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x3bae235720cf15b9:0x10b800c631021f0
e!8m2!3d13.0625009!4d77.4749369?hl=nl&authuser=0

Bangalore as a city with a population of 10 million is spread over 812 sq. km. However,
Bangalore Metropolitan Region having an area of 8005 sq. km. is the second largest
Metropolitan area in the Country.

3. PROGRAMME

Aug 27th
Morning : Official inauguration
Speakers from UN-Habitat, UNCRD, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways GoI, ASRTU,
KSRTC, BMTC … (We will try to get the Union Minister of Road Transport and /or State
Chief Minister / Transport Minister Government of Karnataka there, but this is not confirmed
yet)
lunchbreak
Session 1 : Market analysis and CEO’s debate : the vision of the industry on the future of public
           transport in India
Session 2 : How coach services can support tourism in India

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Aug 28th
Morning
Session 3 : Ways towards low & zero emission bus services
Session 4 : Digitalization and the introduction of Intelligent Transport Systems
lunchbreak
Session 5 : Doubling the use of public transport : how do we do it ?
Session 6: Hiring, training and follow up on bus drivers

Aug 29th
Session 7 : Rural Urban connectivity
Session 8 : Improving road safety

4. OBJECTIVES

The key objectives of the Conference will be:
    (i) Understanding the present and future challenge of bus sector in India - The focus will
        be on enhancing the capacity of Bus manufacturers; rationalization of taxation
        structures and addressing the financial constraints of SRTUs; transformation of State
        Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) through initiatives for providing accessibility
        of public transport, adoption of digital payment systems, alternative fuel in public
        transport including electric mobility and IT initiatives to fulfil social responsibilities
        and incorporation of transit analytics with the ITS Solutions to generate a large
        quantum of accurate and useful data;
    (ii) Aim at working out a common vision and recommendations for the development of
         an efficient, safe and affordable bus and coach mobility system in India.
    (iii) Developing Policy and business recommendations, and a short-, medium- and long-
          term Action Plan (“road map”) on removing existing barriers and facilitating bus and
          coach transport in India, with the objective to increase substantially the number of
          users of collective passenger transport modes by 2030.

Targeted participants
The Programme participants include all Stakeholders in the Bus Transportation including
policy makers in the State Governments, capacity building institutions and academia;

    1.   Policy decision makers and public officials of public transport in the government -
         all State Governments - at different levels as Regulators and Policy Makers for
         providing reliable, safe and eco-friendly public transport policy framework.
    2.   Industry: Bus Manufacturers and Accessory Suppliers including those developing
         new technologies such as electric buses and multi-modal integrated transport
         solutions.
    3.   Bus Body Builders: Bus Body Builders keen to learn about Best Practices in cost
         reduction
    4.   Private and Public Bus Operators- Bus Operators having great concern in ease of
         doing business, operations, maintenance and management
    5.   Other Stakeholders such as those interested in promoting Coach Tourism in the
         region and within the country.
    6.   Bus and coach trade associations (few suggested associations)

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(i)     All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC)
         (ii)    All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA)
         (iii)   Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU)
         (iv)    Bus Operators Confederation of India (BOCI)
         (v)     Indian Tourist Transporters Association (ITTA)

    7.  Bus and Coach integrators / aggregators operating in the region (some prominent
        organizations to be invited for participation that include: RedBus; Abhibus;
        Travelyaari; Busindia.com; Via.com; TicketGoose.com; MyBusTickets.in; GoLofty;
        BusPapa.com; PureBus.com; BookMyBus.com; Best Bus.in; Trabol and others)
    8. Bus and coach operators (Some important operators that inter alia include SRS
        Travels; Vijayanand Travels (VRL); Prasanna Purple Mobility (Purple); Praveen
        Travels; SVLL Connect Pvt. Ltd.; Indo-Canadian; Bakshi Transport Company.)
    9. Innovative mobility players in the region (MaaS, ridesharing, electro-mobility etc.)
        Few suggested names are Shuttl App Based Office Bus; Cityflo; ZipGo; Ridlr;
        Zophop
    10. CEOs/MDs, Senior Executives and Professional Staff of State Road Transport
        Undertakings which are Members of the Association of State Road Transport
        Undertakings (ASRTU)
    11. Leading Private Sector Bus Owners/Operators across the country covering all states
        & districts
    12. Bus Manufacturers, Technology Providers and Regulators (There are about 14 Bus
        Manufacturers including Tata and Ashok Leyland)

5. BUSWORLD EXHIBITION

Combined with this Busworld Academy Conference, a Busworld Exhibition will be organized
in Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (Address: 10th Mile, Tumkur Main Road,
Madavara Post Dasanapura, Hobli, Bengaluru, Karnataka 562123), India on 27-29 August
2020. Bus manufacturers from all over the world, together with suppliers and service providers
will exhibit their state of the art products available on the market. We look at an exhibition and
trade fair, which will illustrate the topics that are being discussed in the conference.

6. EXPECTED OUTCOMES

The conference will have theme presentations and discussions on six different subjects. The
output will be the Chair’s Summary as recommendations for India.

A possible Bengaluru Declaration on sustainable bus transport may also be attempted for
discussion and endorsement by the participants.

7. CO-ORGANIZERS

The Busworld Academy Conference in India is being organized and hosted by the Busworld
Academy in association with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Government of
India), ASRTU, KSRTC and BMTC. Other partner organisations include Department of Heavy
Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MoHUA), NITI Aayog, ITDP, WRI and GIZ

Busworld Academy – The Conference Organizer

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The Bus World Academy established in 2013 as a not-for-profit organization registered as a
foundation, provides a knowledge platform for the worldwide bus & coach sector. The
Academy organizes unique congresses, seminars and conferences gathering all stakeholders to
share insights, discuss visions and create exceptional network opportunities for the Bus
manufacturers, suppliers and operators. The Academy invites government authorities,
knowledge institutes and new stakeholders to discuss evolutions and trends such as zero
emission mobility, digitalization and the adapted business models and present & future market
analysis.

The Busworld Academy has three main objectives, mainly to acquire, bundle and share bus
and coach related knowledge about all aspects of the industry, including technological
developments to enhance sustainable mobility, legislation, markets and more specialised
topics, such as coach tourism. These topics may be categorised in three main fields: Safety,
Sustainability and Comfort. As mobility matters to us all, the Academy invites everybody to
collaborate on the input of its seminars and congresses.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Government of India)

ASRTU

The Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) is an apex coordinating body
of all State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) under the aegis of Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India. There are 70 ASRTUs as its
members which collectively own and operate nearly 1.5 lakh buses and about 75 million people
avail bus transport services of these STUs per day and 6 Associate members as of now.

The SRTUs were created under the RTC 1950 with the objective of providing safe, reliable
and economic public transport to the common people in the country. Unlike the Metros,
Railways, the Road Transport plays a vital role in providing the last mile connectivity.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is a state-owned road
transportation company in the state of Karnataka in India. It is wholly owned by the
Government of Karnataka.

The Corporation services cover 92% villages in the State of Karnataka. KSRTC operates with
a total fleet of 24,138 buses (KSRTC-8657, NEKRTC-4343, NWKRTC-4716, BMTC–6422]).
It transports, on an average, 74.57 lakh passengers per day. It also operates to the neighboring
states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Kerala.

KSRTC was the first state transport corporation to introduce Volvo B7RLE low floor city
buses in India in 2005. The corporation has the largest fleet of Volvo buses among state owned
transport companies in India. At present, KSRTC operates TATA, Ashok Leyland, Eicher
Motors are More, Also Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Scania buses under the A/C (Airavat) services.

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is the sole public bus transport
provider for Bengaluru, serving urban, sub-urban and rural areas. BMTC is committed to

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provide quality, safe, reliable, clean and affordable travel. The total number of registered
vehicles in Bangalore is 7.18 million including 44,598 buses. BMTC has 6,467 buses including
850 AC buses carrying 52 lakh passengers daily. For promoting universal accessibility of
public transport, BMTC has taken several initiatives for providing accessibility of public
transport. BMTC has 1117 high end vehicles that are fully accessible by the Persons with
disability & has also has 2963 low floor vehicles/semi low floor vehicles which are easily
accessible by the persons with disability.

8.   SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

The Busworld Academy Congress in India is expected to be supported by a number of local
organizations- national and international that include IIT Delhi, ITDP India, WRI-India, UITP,
UCLG ASPAC-South Asia Chapter, All India Institute of Local Self Government, UN Global
Compact-India Network, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) Japan
and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) GIZ, Wuppertal
Institute, Germany, Austrian Transport Institute. The event will be supported by the Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry
of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Science and Technology, NITI Aayog, Government of India
and Government of Karnataka.

United Cities and Local Governments, Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC)

UCLG ASPAC is the united voice and advocate of democratic local self-government, which promotes cooperation
between governments and within the wider international communities in the Asia-Pacific Region.

UCLG ASPAC is one of the Regional Sections of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), an amalgamation
of International Union of Local Authorities, United Towns Organization (UTO), and World Association of the
Major Metropolises (METROPOLIS). UCLG was established on 1 January 2004 and is headquartered in
Barcelona, Spain.

9. LANGUAGE

The conference proceedings will be held in English language. All documentation materials will
be in English. Busworld will disseminate all documents and presentation material of the
Conference through a weblink. Participants will be provided with a draft program framework
document on Sustainable Urban Transport to facilitate discussions on the issues.

10. GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

All the 28 States and 9 Union Territories of India

11. REGISTRATION

Participation in the Busworld Academy Bengaluru India Conference is free of charge.
However, participants are requested to register through the following link :
https://zfrmz.com/xMLpOTqstKwOHts3LZSg in the homepage for Busworld India :
www.busworldindia.org

Participants are requested to kindly cover their own travel, accommodation and all other
incidental expenses through their organizations or external sponsorships. A limited number of
travel support will be available on a priority basis for invited resource persons / panelists.

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12. INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS

Participation and Arrival

Participation in the Busworld Academy Congress will be free of charge for all participants.

Meals

Catering services will be available at the venue. Coffee/tea and water will be offered in the
breaks.

Accommodation

Participants will organize their own hotel/stay accommodation. A suggested list of Hotels in
the vicinity of the venue will be provided in due time.

13. CONTACT PERSONS

Speakers, moderators and partnering organizations can contact
           a. Dr Kulwant Singh : kulwant.singh@busworld.org
           b. Jan Deman : jan.deman@busworld.org

Logistic support to be provided by
   c. Hannes Huyghe, Busworld Academy, Belgium.
        Email: hannes@busworld.org
        Contact Number: +32 51226060
   d. Sagar S Nanal
        Group Exhibition Head – Mobility & Logistics
        Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India Pvt Ltd
        Tel: +91 22 61445955
        Fax: +91 22 61445999
        Mobile: +91 9820281302
        Email: Sagar.Nanal@India.MesseFrankfurt.com

Communication will be coordinated by Inge Buytaert (communication manager at Busworld –
Inge.buytaert@busworld.org), with the support of Sagar Nanal in India.

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14. BACKGROUND

To ensure that Public Transport (PT) becomes the preferred mode, it is imperative to recognize
the challenges of the Indian public transport system. India has 1.2 buses per 1000 people, below
developing nation benchmarks, with a vast disparity between states - 3.9 in Karnataka vs 0.02
in Bihar. Only 63 of 458 Indian cities of more than 100,000 citizens have a formal city bus
system. Within this, only 15 cities have a bus or rail-based mass rapid transit system. A strong,
well-connected, capable public transport network is considered an essential service, and in
India the usage needs to be significantly improved. There is a need to focus on making public
transport the preferred choice for urban commuting and simultaneously addressing the twin
problems of pollution & congestion.

India has good transport infrastructure, including 76,818 km of national highway and 64,600
km of rail network. However, the demand of private vehicles is increasing in India owing to
lack of good public transport infrastructure. The country has 250 million registered vehicles as
of March 2017, out of which motorcycles and two-wheelers are 75% (194 million) of the
registered vehicles. India is currently adding around 2 million new two wheelers every month.

Public transport still remains the primary mode of transport for most of the population as 72%
of passenger kms (4,173 billion passenger km) are covered by buses (both public and private).

Currently, there are around 1.6 million registered buses in India, out of which only 170,000
are operated by public bus operators. According to National Transport Development Policy
Committee (NTDPC-2014) report the passenger traffic in India is projected to grow about
15-16 times over the next two decades, with the assumption of rapid economic growth of 7 to
9 percent per annum. This implies that urban transport in India needs a big change. At
present, there is a lack of relevant information and, as a result, understanding of the modal
share distribution between various transport modes, across city types and sizes in India.
However, very few Indian cities currently, have organised, registered and regulated public
transport systems. As a result, more and more urban residents are relying on personal vehicles
and two-wheelers, the result of which is increasing traffic congestion, air pollution, accidents,
and fuel use.

In the last century, urban transport received a very sporadic and fragmented attention. The use
of buses in urban transport until 2009 has been quite low. Growth of bus services in urban
public transport is dependent on two factors: funding and skills at city level. The Jawaharlal
Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) a flagship programme of the Government
of India launched in 2005 channeled significant investment in transport systems for some of
India’s largest cities, but much more remains to be done to increase the level and quality of
investment. With the discontinuation of JNNURM in 2014, direct funding by the central
government having stopped, once again the interest in promoting bus services has diminished
at State/local/city level.

Indian cities require a dense and integrated public transport system. Only such dense Mass
Rapid Transit (MRT) (based on buses majorly funded by city governments) can support transit
in the already dense parts of our cities and can support a shift towards high-density, mixed-use

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walking and transit1-oriented urban environments. As a first step, a city should organise the
existing public transport into an integrated network to cover the whole city. These services can
be operated by buses of various sizes as appropriate to demand level. Actual ridership will
guide adjustments in the capacity needed and to be provided on each route.

It is also felt that urban transport policy, planning and investment need to be more responsive
to safety, energy, environment and health concerns. The mobility needs of people need more
attention which requires bold institutional as well as policy change. Authority continues to be
divided within and across levels of government. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is
the nodal ministry for urban transport policy at the national level. Ministry of Road Transport
and Highway (MoRTH) creates policy guidelines for the transportation sector including bus
transport. However, transport is a state subject and every state have a Transport Department
that creates policies for each state. State governments contribute to urban transport planning
and implementation as part of their involvement in urban development authorities and
departments of transport. Local governments have a limited role in transport planning and
implementation but are generally responsible for maintenance. National Transport
Development Policy Committee (NTDPC) has stated that multiple agency control and diffused
attention is not conducive to the provision and growth of urban transport along a sustainable
path.

Some of the expert groups have recommended that urban transport policies and strategies
should be formulated with an “avoid, shift and improve” framework. As the primary
responsibility for urban transport lies with the state governments, over time, urban transport
responsibilities should be devolved to metropolitan and city authorities, particularly for India’s
larger cities of more than 1 million. Metropolitan Urban Transport Authorities should be set up
as holistic and integrated decision making and coordinating bodies with adequate technical
staff. Priority in planning for modes should focus on improving mobility through non-
motorised transport, public transport and para transit, and personal vehicles in that order.
Expert group has also recommended changes in the legislative and administrative frameworks
– setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in million plus cities or for
a group of small cities; passing of a comprehensive urban transport act; strengthening road
transport infrastructure and promote inter-modality for seamless mobility; road safety measures
including setting up of safety boards and safety cells at city level; training and capacity building
of various stakeholders; focusing on accessibility for door-to-door connectivity; plan for safety,
comfort accessibility and affordability needs of users; and build scenarios for green mobility
for reducing emissions and improving environment.

Public Transportation Buses

Buses continue to be one of the principal modes of commuting in many cities of India due to
low cost of operations and have high passenger carrying capacity compared to other modes of
city transport. However, as stated above the bus transport has not been able to cater to the

1
  Public transport oriented. The term "transit" and "public transport" are used in their wider
meaning, namely, covering also transport services offered by private bus companies, taxis and
intermediate (informal) public transport, intercity scheduled (bus) services and bus tourist
transport.

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growing travel demand. Besides this, buses have been suffering from poor image as they are
perceived as polluting, noisy, unreliable, slow, and uncomfortable.

Buses make up over 90% of public transport in Indian cities and serve as a cheap and
convenient mode of transport. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway
(MoRTH), there are 1,600,000 registered buses, out of which 170,000 buses are operated by
State Transport Undertakings (STUs). These buses complete more than 70 million passenger
trips per day. Reliable data for private sector buses is not available.

Stage Buses (Buses which carry people across a city)

The city bus services are mostly run by state government owned transport corporations. After
the economic liberalisation, many state transport corporations have introduced various
facilities such as low-floor buses for the ease of boarding and alighting of disabled and elderly
and air-conditioned buses to attract private vehicle owners to help decongest roads. There are
56 STUs in India, serving both intra-city and inter-city buses. In some cities, Municipal
Corporation and SPVs are also running the city operation.

The bus transportation industry is still in nascent stage in India. Public bus companies are
operating efficiently in Southern States (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra
Pradesh, and Kerala). Rest of the country is facing problems with city bus operations and public
operators are not able to operate services efficiently. Public bus operator - Delhi Transport
Corporation (DTC) is incurring an annual loss of INR 35 billion, besides investment in capital
cost. Public bus companies in Northern and Central India are not able to profitably operate and
maintain the service.

Even after the procurement of new buses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM), STUs have not been able to revamp their internal processes and generate
any extra revenue for the corporation.

The city bus industry is still fragmented and there are not many big private players who are in
the city bus operation. Most of the companies are operating small number of buses. However,
there has been increasing trend to outsource bus operation to private operator on Gross or Net
Cost Model.

BRT Buses

The small and medium size cities are largely exploring the option of implementing Bus Rapid
Transit system. Around 222 kms of BRT systems are operational and the remaining 282 kms
are under construction. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has provided
financial assistance to 11 cities for construction of 504 kms Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).

BRT system in India is not very popular as cities are more inclined to build metro system,
mainly after failure of Delhi BRT corridor.

Intercity Buses

The intercity bus market in India is estimated to be around INR 600 billion (US$ 9 billion).
However, the industry is growing at 20-25% owing to development of road infrastructure and

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availability of luxury vehicles. State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTU) has monopoly on
the bus permits and operates more than 100,000 buses as per MoRTH Road Yearbook.

With 2000+ operators intercity bus market is dominated by private players running about
20,000 buses on long distance point-to-point routes. Very few contract carriage players have a
fleet as large around 100 or more buses each, most are small players with 5-10 buses or less.
There are very few organized players in the market one of them is VRL Logistics with revenue
of INR 317 Crores (US$48 million) in 2015-16 and has a fleet of 381 buses.

The Government of India has announced to open the bus sector for private investors. It is
expected that the sector will attract new players and more investment.

The intercity bus transport industry is growing phenomenally in India. It is estimated that
annual turnover of intercity bus transportation is around US$2 billion (INR120 billion), selling
around 220 million bus tickets/day. It is projected that the industry will grow at 25% annually
(Source: redBus 2011). As per industry estimates, there are around 5,000 bus operators,
operating more than 75,000 buses on point to point routes. However, there is no study done at
pan-India level to collate these numbers.

Indian Tourist Market

Tourism in India has developed slowly over the years. India is famous for its rich cultural
heritage and history. Currently, it is also attracting lots of tourists for yoga, medical treatment
and adventure. The country attracted 8.8 million tourists in 2016 and has received 4.89 million
tourists in the period of January to June 2017. It is expected that the total number of tourists
will be around 10 million by the end of year 2017. One of the key reasons for spurt in the
number of tourists is extension of on-arrival visa facility to many countries.

Government of India unveiled National Tourism Policy in 2002 to position tourism as a major
engine of economic growth and to harness employment opportunities. The total contribution
of tourism sector to GDP was 9.6% in 2016, i.e. US$208 billion and the sector provided
employment to 40.34 million people, i.e. 9.3% of total employment. India ranked seventh in
the world in terms of tourism’s contribution to GDP and second in the world in terms of
employment clearly indicating its importance in the country.

India has good connectivity to different cities and tourism spots by road, railway and civil
aviation. Tourists can choose single or multiple modes of travel to reach the destinations, as
some destinations are connected by road only. Ministry of Tourism has issued approval to 26
Tourist Transport Operators in India in 2016. The demand for luxury buses is growing owing
to growth in tourism industry as people are looking for comfortable modes of transport.
However, a tourist’s choice of transport would depend on the travel budget, destination, time,
purpose of the tour & convenience to the point of destination. Large numbers of tourists prefer
to use taxis or group coach to travel to different places.

Bus Vehicles Market

The Indian bus industry is the second largest in the world in terms of volumes, clocking close
to 100,000 units every year, next only to China. The industry produced mainly three types of
passenger buses – Mini-bus (LCV - less than 7.5 tons), Midi-bus (ICV - 7.5 to 12 tons) and
Standard bus (HDV - 12 to 16 tons).

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While the buses are largely made on truck chassis, the industry had undergone remarkable
change in last one decade after the launch of JNNURM scheme and introduction of Bus code.
The share of fully built buses has been increased to 45-50% of total number of buses sold.

The passenger bus service is dominated by Indian manufacturers – Tata Motors and Ashok
Leyland, controlling 75% of the market. Both Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland also exports
buses to African countries mainly Congo, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The luxury bus market is growing in India at a faster pace than the rest, selling around 3,000-
4,000 luxury coaches and growing at about 9-10% annually. The luxury bus market is divided
into two parts - the chassis market and fully built luxury coaches. There are local bus body
builders which are building luxury coaches on chassis and producing approximately 250 units
per month.

The fully built luxury coaches’ market is relatively still small and sells 60 units per month.
Volvo controlled more than 50% market share of luxury buses earlier but with the entry of new
players like Scania, Bharat Benz and Isuzu, the competition is increasing in the market (Source:
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers).

Electric Bus Market

The acceptance of electric and hybrid buses is slow in India, mainly due to cost factor. The
average cost of hybrid or electric buses is 3-4 times higher than that of diesel buses. Further,
with the decrease in the cost of diesel, there is not much incentive for the operators to shift to
hybrid or electric buses. Some cities, like Delhi and Mumbai, are using clean fuel such as CNG
for the bus operation.

Government of India unveiled National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 to
accelerate the growth of the electric and hybrid components of the automotive sector. It focuses
primarily on fast-tracking the manufacturing and introduction of EVs in India. The Department
of Heavy Industries (DHI) had launched FAME (Faster Adaptation and Manufacturing of
(Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles) in April 2015 to promote manufacturing of electric and hybrid
vehicles in India. As a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan, FAME-I had a
corpus of about US$ 123 million (INR 8.0 billion) to invest in electric mobility-based
initiatives, focused on electric two wheelers, electric cars and hybrid vehicles. This fund was
allocated for duration of two years and was to expire in April 2017; however, the program was
extended till September 2017.

In September 2017, MoHPE (Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises) again
extended the Phase I of the FAME India Scheme by six months, i.e. till 31 March 2018.
Furthermore, the ministry issued a notification to include Electric Bus under the FAME-I
scheme. The incentives for fully electric buses were:

   •   Incentive Level 1 (In case of localisation of minimum 15% is achieved): 60% of
       purchase cost or US$130,000 (INR 8.5 million), whichever is lower

   •   Incentive Level 2 (In case of localisation of minimum 35% is achieved): 60% of
       purchase cost or US$150,000 (INR 10 million), whichever is lower

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It was expected that the adoption of electric buses will increase after the new incentive scheme.
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) became the first city in India to induct electric buses for
commercial operations on 21 September 2017. The buses (Model K7 eBuzz – midi bus) were
supplied by Goldstone-BYD at the cost of US$260,000 (INR 17 million). The bus can operate
200 kms in a single charge.

FAME 2 scheme to promote the use of electric vehicles in India

The government has announced an outlay of ₹10,000 crore for Phase 2 of the Faster Adoption
and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, or FAME 2 scheme, to boost electric
mobility and increase the number of electric vehicles in commercial fleets. Rs. 1,000 crores
have been earmarked for setting up charging stations for electric vehicles in India

Salient features of FAME 2 scheme:

The outlay of ₹10,000 crore has been made for three years till 2022 for FAME-2 scheme. The
centre has sanctioned Rs. 8,596 crores for incentives, of which Rs. 1,000 crore has been
earmarked for setting up charging stations for electric vehicles in India. The government will
offer incentives for electric buses, three-wheelers and four-wheelers to be used for commercial
purposes. Plug-in hybrid vehicles and those with a sizeable lithium-ion battery and electric
motor will also be included in the scheme and fiscal support offered depending on the size of
the battery.

FAME-2: Target for Electric Buses and other vehicles.

The centre plans to incentivize purchase of 7,090 electric buses by the State Governments with
an outlay of Rs. 3,545 crores, 20,000 hybrids with Rs. 26 crores, 35,000 four-wheelers with Rs.
525 crores and 500,000 three-wheelers with Rs. 2,500 crores.

Incentives to be offered:

To encourage state transport units (STUs) to buy more electric buses, Rs. 20,000 per kW will
be offered as incentive. The incentives may further be subject to bidding by original equipment
manufacturers. Electric buses will be offered incentives on the basis of the operational
expenditure model adopted by State Transport Undertakings.

Steps being taken to make electric vehicles more affordable.

FAME-2 offers incentives to manufacturers, who invest in developing electric vehicles and its
components, including lithium-ion batteries and electric motors. The centre has asked states to
frame their EV policy and provide additional fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to manufacturers
and buyers. Only buses priced up to Rs. 20 million, strong and plug-in hybrids under Rs. 15
lakhs, three-wheelers under Rs. 5 lakh and two-wheelers under Rs. 1.5 lakh are eligible for
incentives.

The outlay of Rs 10,000 crores over a period of three years provides a stable policy to promote
green mobility in India. The scheme also addresses key issues including national energy
security, mitigation of the adverse impact of vehicles on the environment and growth of
domestic technology and manufacturing capabilities.

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The scheme also proposes support for setting up of charging infrastructure whereby about
2,700 charging stations will be set up in metros, other million-plus cities, smart cities and cities
of hilly states across India.

In order to enhance clean mobility in the road transport sector, the Department of Heavy
Industries has sanctioned 2,636 charging stations under the second phase of the Faster
Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (FAME) Vehicles in India scheme. With this, the total
number of charging stations planned to be installed across select cities has gone up to about
14,000.

Sound transport strategies and policies are crucial to boosting India’s economic growth and
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 9 to ‘’build resilient
infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation’’ and Goal 11 to
‘’make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.’’ There are several important priorities
which the country must tackle in order to develop a more sustainable transport system:

   •   Creating efficient, affordable, and green public transport networks in the main urban
       areas by building more Bus Rapid Transit systems and by investing in energy-efficient,
       low-emission public transport vehicles.
   •   Developing infrastructure, policies, and communications to encourage the use of non-
       motorized transport, including safer corridors for pedestrians and cyclists
   •   Promoting the implementation of stricter vehicle emissions standards to improve
       vehicle energy efficiency
   •   Restricting private car use through the implementation of fees in heavily congested
       areas
   •   Encouraging the use of electric vehicles through incentives, such as tax exemptions and
       the construction of a wide network of charging stations
   •   Enhancing private sector participation as well as enhancing the role of State-Owned
       Enterprises to foster a more competitive environment.

Implementing these strategies require strong commitment and effective collaboration at all
levels of government: central, state, and local.

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