Electric buses to see 15 pc sales growth in India at 17,000 units in FY27

New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) The annual sales volume of electric buses in the country is expected to reach more than 17,000 units in FY27 -- nearly 15 per cent growth from total bus sales volume of 4 per cent in FY24, a report showed on Tuesday.

Electric buses account for 4 per cent of India's annual bus registrations, with 3,644 units sold in FY24, reflecting an 81 per cent year-on-year growth.

The transition to cleaner fuels has decreased conventional diesel and petrol buses' market share from 97-98 per cent a decade ago to 90 per cent in FY24, according to the report by CareEdge Ratings.

“Till now, e-bus penetration had been limited to a few larger cities, but gradually e-buses are being rolled out in more cities, which is expected to result in widespread adoption of e-buses across the country,” said Arti Roy, Associate Director at CareEdge Ratings.

Government support has also been demonstrated through various policy initiatives, which is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.

India's potential for electric buses (e-buses) is significant, with only six e-buses per million people compared to the world average of 85.

Currently, e-bus adoption is limited to a few states and cities, but widespread adoption is expected to drive exponential sales growth in the medium term.

According to the report, India has sizeable e-Bus manufacturing capability, whereby five companies account for more than 85 per cent of the e-bus market share, with an aggregate of 40,500 e-bus manufacturing capacity per annum.

Also, they have sizeable outstanding order book on the back of auctions held by many State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in the recent past.

Evolution of Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model compared with the outright bus purchase by STUs is expected to speed up the adoption of e-buses in a big way; albeit few concerns persist due to the inherent weak financial health of most STUs despite presence of mitigants in the form of payment security mechanism.

Further, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for AC e-bus is nearly 15-20 per cent lower than that of AC diesel buses over the 12 years period, making it an attractive proposition in the long term.

The strong policy push from the government by way of PM e-Bus Seva and PM e-Drive, annual sales volume of e-Buses in the country is expected to grow further, the report noted.