Government's emphasis on increasing charging stations; plan approved to run over 10 thousand e-buses in the country

Suburban areas and small towns in cities will also be eligible to receive the advantage of central government-subsidized PM e-bus service. The central government has agreed to the demands of states and cities in this context, and modifications have also been made in the guidelines of the scheme.

As per a circular of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, also eligible to receive PM e-buses under this scheme shall be the nearby towns that come under the definition of a city. There was a persistent demand from cities that areas around them, which have been lawfully declared as areas of a town, should also come under their jurisdiction.

The government has approved it. Under the PM e-bus service, ten thousand e-buses are to be run in 169 cities with a population of three to 40 lakhs. Under this scheme, cities are given proposals according to their needs, which are approved by the central government.

So far, 7293 buses have been approved for 98 cities. A special feature of this scheme is that, along with the operation of ten thousand buses, the government is also assisting in building bus depots and charging facilities.

In the last meeting, the steering committee of the central government related to the scheme gave its recommendation for the bus demand of 11 cities in Andhra Pradesh and 10 cities in Karnataka. Apart from this, the demand of Junagadh in Gujarat and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh was also fulfilled. 50 buses are to run in Junagadh and 100 in Gwalior.