Electric bus makers are set up for a joyride as Delhi's full fleet electrification

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Auto News Ayaan Kartik 3 min Read April 15, 2025, 09:05 AM IT The draft policy proposed a 100% electrification of the public bus fleet in the city by 2027. (Hindustan Times) Summary Tata Motors sold 545 units to the national capital in FY25, and is more than half of its total sales in the country. Similarly, at 331 units, the city was almost 69% of sales for PMI electro mobility. JBM Auto sold 86 units, or about a fourth of its total, in the national capital. Electric bus makers such as Tata Motors Ltd, PMI Electro Mobility Solutions Ltd and JBM Auto Ltd are ready to get a lift from Delhi’s proposed electric vehicle policy, India’s largest electrical bus market. The draft policy proposed a 100% electrification of the public bus fleet in the city by 2027. Tata Motors, India’s largest electric bus maker, sold 545 units to the national capital in FY25, which accounts for more than half of its total sales in the country. Similarly, at 331 units, the city was almost 69% of sales for PMI electro mobility. JBM Auto sold 86 units, or about a fourth of its total, in the national capital. Electric buses: Challenges and prospects It comes amid the slowdown of sales of electric buses in the country, with FY25 scoring a 6% decline in sales to 3.314 units, according to the government’s Vahan portal, which records registrations. Of the total electrical bus sales in the country during the past financial year, Delhi was about a third of it. The penetration of electric bus in the country has been 4.7%over the past financial year. Also read: The curious case of Ola’s scooter ‘sales’ without invoices “Delhi is an important market for electric buses, so if the policy is implemented, it will certainly be a big boost to the leading players in the segment,” said Nikhil Dhaka, policy leader at Primus Partners. The response to the government policy according to the draft electric vehicle policy, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Delhi-integrated multimodal transit system (DIMTS) will only obtain electric buses from the day the policy is notified. The EV policy of the National Capital said that the government will electrify all the bus depots and take its total purchases to 11,000 in the next five years from 8,000 in 2025. Tata Motors, based in Mumbai. Olectra Grentech Ltd, PMI Electro Mobility and Ashok Leyland’s Switch Mobility Automotive Ltd are the most important competitors in the segment. “The policy will give a significant boost to the electric bus market by creating an increase in demand that will benefit bus manufacturers through increased production,” said Saket Mehra, partner and risk and leader for Automotive & EV at Grant Thornton India. Future experts of the prospects emphasize that the adoption of electric buses went on a slow lane in the country amid infrastructure problems, such as the availability of loading stations and reducing subsidy for electric buses by the central government under the premier e-drive scheme. Mehra explained that counterparty risks, such as delayed payments and low ticket income, have hampered the financial dynamics in the industry. Also read: Mercedes’ India Quarterly Sales are even dropping as BMW, Audi Grow -tone -on -tone bus makers remain confident about the demand for electrification in the country. “We have an improved value proposition in the segments, we only increased the capacity of physique six months ago and are therefore very well placed to address this growing segment,” said Girish Wagon, executive director of Tata Motors, during the company’s earnings call on January 29. In March, Ashok Leyland, Chennai headquarters, announced that it is considering concluding the operation of the mobility of the electric bus unit in the UK and doubling on the electric bus market in India. “The EV bus market in India is doing exceptionally well. Switch India is likely to reach Ebitda Breakeven in FY25, hoping to disappear the volumes in FY26, on the back of 1800+ e-bus orders,” said Sheny Agarwal, managing director and CEO of Ashok Leyland. Production capabilities -experts suggest that the most important thing for bus makers for the country would be to increase production to ensure that they could meet electric buses in time for the demand for electric buses. “The next two years are crucial, which will test the production capacity of the most important original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). There are government and private orders pending, and there is an expectation that investments will be made to increase production capacity,” said Sanyam Gandhi, director of Chartered Speed. Also read: In the US trade war, Indian tire manufacturers can do collateral damage with movement on the policy of electric vehicles that increase in the national capital, there are expectations that others may follow. “In our opinion, with Delhi taking measures against CNG, it can be wise for larger subways like Mumbai to also opt for EVs that have no emissions of tail pipe,” analysts wrote at Kotak Institutional Equity in an April 8 note. Catch all the car news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates and live business news. More Topics #Electric Vehicle Mint Specials