One of India's largest bus maker cheers the $390 million fund for electric buses
Ashok Leyland's Shenu Agarwal gave a thumbs up to India's plan to add 50,000 electric buses on its roads over the next 4-5 years.
India plans to roll out 50,000 electric buses for public transport by 2027 with joint funding from the United States. Shenu Agarwal, Managing Director and CEO of Ashok Leyland believes this is a "great step in the direction of adoption of electric buses in public transport."
India currently has 12,000 electric buses plying on the roads.
According to a report by Bloomberg, this initiative, announced at a COP28 side event, involves a $390 million fund designed to secure loans for manufacturers expanding electric bus production. The funding arrangement includes $150 million contributed by the US government and philanthropic organisations, and $240 million from the Indian government.
Agarwal said this fund is being established jointly by India and the US to implement a payment security mechanism (PSM) for all government contracts.
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Agarwal also discussed the plan to raise product prices. He said there is need for a price adjustment given that the rise in input costs hasn't been entirely reflected in market prices. The company will soon announce its decision.
He does not expect the mandatory installation of cabin air conditioners in trucks starting October 2025 to increase costs by around 1-1.5%.
The industry is welcoming the initiative to introduce these changes as it will help in terms of efficiency and productivity of the vehicles that we have on the road, he noted.
For the entire interview, watch the accompanying video
(Edited by : Shweta Mungre)
First Published: Dec 11, 2023 3:14 PM IST
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