VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has extended the deadline of accepting bids for introducing 350 electric buses from October 14 to 21.
According to the RTC officials, the Centre sanctioned 350 electric buses to the corporation as part of the phase-II of FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India). In this regard, the Corporation invited tenders from electric bus manufacturers after conducting a meeting on September 26.
During the course of the meeting, the management sought interested companies to file their bids on the basis of providing the buses on Gross Cost Contract method for a period of 12 years. As per the tender notification, the APSRTC will hire eco-friendly electric buses. Payment will be made by the Corporation to the finalised company on the basis of operations per kilometre. Meanwhile, financial bids will be evaluated on November 1 and reverse bidding will be done on November 6 after examining the least quoted bid filed by the manufacturer, officials said.
Speaking to TNIE on Thursday, APSRTC executive director P Rama Rao said electric bus manufacturers were asked to supply nine-metre-long buses. Under the phase-II of FAME, the Centre will provide a financial assistance of `35 to `55 lakh to the Corporation for each bus.