States have sought more than 10,000 additional electric buses beyond the 14,028 buses planned under the PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) scheme, according to officials. The additional demand is significantly above the scheme’s permitted 20% variation from the original estimates and could require a fresh government initiative.
Several states have revised their requirements upward as demand for electric public transport grows. West Bengal, Delhi, Telangana and Karnataka, along with state transport undertakings, are expected to make formal requests for additional buses, a senior government official said.
Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have also sought electric buses for inter-city services. So far, PM E-DRIVE has primarily catered to intra-city requirements, and the demand for inter-city operations would represent an expansion of the scheme’s current scope.
Under PM E-DRIVE, the Centre invites bids for electric buses, allowing price discovery before states place their requirements with the Ministry of Heavy Industries. Electric buses account for the largest share of the scheme’s subsidy allocation, with ₹4,391 crore earmarked for their deployment across large cities.
The procurement process for 13,800 e-buses under the scheme has been completed. This includes 10,900 buses covered under the first tender and another 2,900 buses under the second tender. The overall approved allocation under PM E-DRIVE is 14,028 buses across nine cities with populations of four million or more.
Additional requirements already identified include 500 buses for Surat, 600 for Hyderabad, 2,000 for Andhra Pradesh, 900 for Rajasthan, 20 for Meghalaya and 200 for Jammu & Kashmir. The fresh requests from states come on top of allocations already made under the existing programmes.
The PM E-DRIVE scheme was approved in September 2024 with an initial outlay of ₹10,900 crore for two years. It has since been extended until March 31, 2028, covering all segments except large electric three-wheelers.
According to government data, more than 2.9 million electric vehicles have so far received incentives under PM E-DRIVE. This includes around 2.7 million electric two-wheelers, 237,000 large electric three-wheelers, 10,088 electric rickshaws and 236 electric trucks. The scheme also provides ₹2,000 crore for the deployment of public electric vehicle charging stations.
