Maken alleges scam in purchase of e- buses
■ Report found that inspite of subsidy, viability gap paid by the govt is higher ◗
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Maken said on Saturday, that the Supreme Court, while hearing a matter related to the Environment Compensation Charges which are being deposited with the Delhi government to the tune of about ` 1,301 crore, the government submitted an affidavit that it will purchase 1,000 e- Buses out of that fund, and the cost of each fully low electric bus will be ` 2.5 crore. Mr Maken said that in reply to the government’s affidavit, the EPCA ( Envi- ronment Pollution ( Prevention and Control) Authority) submitted its report on May 15, that the Department of Heavy Industries, has benchmarked the Capital Costs of electrical buses . This ranges from ` 75 lakh to ` 1.75 crore per bus, Mr Maken said, adding “whereas the Delhi government in its affidavit had said that each bus would cost ` 2.5 crore which is abnormally high.” The Congress leader said that the EPCA had submitted in the Supreme Court that in this case, the government was providing subsidy up to ` 1 crore per bus, which lowers the operational cost. “The
In a report, submitted to the SC, the EPCA had said that the government was providing subsidy up to 1 crore per bus, which lowers its operational cost, Maken said
report says that it is found that inspite of the subsidy, the viability gap paid by the gvernment equals or is higher than the cost of similar scheme, where the Capital cost is borne by the operator”. Mr Maken said the EPCA report has mentioned that in Delhi’s cluster model, the rate paid by the government is at the maximum of ` 55 per km whereas the cost of the bus procurement is with the operator. He said that the revenue per kilometer is roughly ` 25- 30 per km and the govt pays the difference of ` 30- 25 per km. He said that in Bengaluru and Hyder- abad, the cost works out roughly ` 40 per km with the cost of electricity ( fuel) being borne by the Transport Authority.