The government has warned Tata Motors of blacklisting for delay in delivery of e-buses to the transport departments of six cities reports ET citing officials aware of development.
Last year in March the company bagged orders to supply 40 e-buses each to Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jammu and Guwahati in March last year. However, Tata Motors has delayed deliveries in all these cities.
Some state transport departments noted that the delay by Tata Motors was because of battery issues and a “delay in the manufacturing process.”
Olectra (a joint venture of BYD and Goldstone) won tenders to supply three of the 10 cities, while Ashok Leyland won the order for Ahmedabad. Olectra has subbled 40 of the 100 buses in Hyderabad, however, contracts in Bengaluru and Mumbai were delayed by legal hurdles.
Naga Satyam, executive director of Olectra speaking to the publication said “Around 80 buses order to supply Bengaluru has been cancelled by BMTC. We have challenged this in the Karnataka high court. In Mumbai, our tender ran into a court case, where we got the clearance to supply buses only on March 15.”
The publication citing Ashok Leyland spokesperson reports that the company has partially delivered the contract and buses are under trial runs and will start passenger services in a month.
Contracts for the e-buses were issued in the first phase FAME I. Under the FAME India scheme, the Centre offered a 60% subsidy to cities to procure evehicles as outright purchases or on a supply-operate basis.
In December 2017 the Department of Heavy Industries under the FAME scheme sanctioned Rs 440 crore to states for the procurement of electric buses, electric taxis and e-autos as a pilot project. Now the transport departments risk losing the subsidy if it is not claimed in time says the report.
A government official aware of developments speaking to the publication said “Now the states have to decide the action against the company. Some states have levied liquidated damages on the company,” he added. “The deadline to claim their subsidies is nearing and can be extended maximum by 15 days or a month. After this, the unclaimed subsidies will lapse.”
At a meeting recently called by the heavy industries department the delay was flagged with Tata Motors. Officials speaking to ET said the company could be barred from participating in tenders expected to be floated under the FAME-II scheme.
Uttar Pradesh transport department has given an ultimatum till May this year for supply of e-buses, so far the company has supplied only one prototype in Lucknow which is running fine till date.
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