Nagpur Municipal Corporation has asked Hyde firm to deliver 40 e-buses by November 15
Transport department sources have said that Nagpur Municipal Corporation has made it very clear that no further extension will be given.
Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation has issued a final ultimatum to a Hyderabad based firm Ave Trans Pvt Ltd to ensure the delivery of around 40 electric buses by the date of 15 November. Or it will start levying a penalty of about 0.1% every single day against a performance guarantee of around Rs 1.68 crore.
Transport department sources have said that Nagpur Municipal Corporation has made it very clear that no further extension will be given.
Sources also said that as per the agreement, the firm was to deliver the e-buses in two lots But this has already caused a lot of delay in the delivery.
Sources have said that there is a lot of pressure on the firm to take the e-buses to the cities of Mumbai and Pune. Those who have placed large orders.
According to the Letter of Acceptance (LOA) by the firm, the first consignment of about 25 buses should have been delivered on September 20. A senior official of the Transport Department has said that according to the LoA, the 2nd consignment of about 15 buses is to be delivered by the date of 19 November.
In a letter written to the firm, the Transport Manager of Nagpur Municipal Corporation and Deputy Municipal Commissioner named Ravindra Bhelave. He has stated that the first consignment of about 25 buses should have been delivered by about 390 days from the date of LOA. For the remaining 15 buses, the time period was around 450 days.
E-buses being sponsored
The BJP-ruled Nagpur Municipal Corporation had completely refused to accept about 100 electric buses sponsored by the Department of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises due to its poor financial condition. Instead, it had decided to procure only around 40 buses under Phase-II of FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles).
So far, Nagpur Municipal Corporation has received around Rs 3.60 crore (out of Rs 18 crore). Because it had shortlisted around 40 MIDI e-buses. And also getting a subsidy of about Rs 45 lakh for each bus.
The NMC will also get the 2nd and 3rd installments of about Rs 7.2 crore once all the 40 e-buses are covered.
The cost of MIDI buses procured from the firm is approx. Rs 1.49 crores and the cost of each e-buses procured is approx. Rs. 60 crores.
Nagpur Municipal Corporation has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the firm for the operation of these buses.
In response to this question, official sources have said that Nagpur Municipal Corporation has also identified a depot in Khapri. The firm will also develop infrastructure including about 20 charging stations. After about 10 years this facility will be transferred to Nagpur Municipal Corporation on Build and Operate basis.
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