Olectra Greentech, a subsidiary of Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL), has received an order for 550 electric buses from the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

The company said the order is vital to Telangana’s electric mobility initiative for large-scale clean, green public transportation.

K.V. Pradeep, Chairman and MD of Olectra Greentech said the company won the order to supply 50 standard floor 12-meter intercity coach e-buses and 500 low floor 12-meter intracity e-buses from the TSRTC.

The e-buses will be delivered in phases soon.

Olectra said its  e-buses are expected to significantly reduce the noise and emission levels in Hyderabad.

Olectra’s association with TSRTC began in March 2019 with 40 e-buses. These buses have been plying from the airport to various destinations in Hyderabad.

The 50 intercity e-buses will ply between Hyderabad in Telangana and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

The air-conditioned buses can travel more than 325 km on a single charge, the company said.

In the intracity segment, the 500 e-buses will ply within Hyderabad. Each e-bus can travel a distance of more than 225 km on a single charge.

TSRTC has allotted five depots in the twin cities for the deployment and operations of these e-buses.

Olectra said its e-buses will be charged at fast charging stations to ensure optimal performance.

TSRTC Chairman  Bajireddy Govardhan said, “The TSRTC has plans to make 3,400 electric buses available across the state in the next two years.”

Recently, a bidding process conducted by the Convergence Energy Service Limited (CESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services, has shown e-buses as a service had emerged as the most cost-effective approach to urban public transport with or without subsidy.

Last September, CESL invited bids to select bus operators for the procurement and operation & maintenance of 5,690 e-buses and the development of allied electric and civil infrastructure under the ‘National E-Bus Program (Phase-I)’ which aims to deploy 50,000 e-buses across the country. The unified tender calling for proposals for the provision of mobility services benefits from the participation of Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Telangana, and Arunachal Pradesh.