HERE ARE SOME UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Evidence  is  piling  up  !

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For last few months, I have been writing blogs ( and sending as emails to Cabinet Ministers / NITI Aayog / PM-EAC members / EESL officers etc ) , advocating that EESL should “ lease “ electric cars rather than go for outright “ purchase “ , since leasing will save thousands of crores of rupees

( Read : https://myblogepage.blogspot.in/2018/04/eesl-electriccar-scaminindia.html  )

To best of my knowledge , so far TATA and M&M have delivered some 500 EV each , against last year’s tender for 10,000 cars . It is a different matter that there are no more than a dozen Battery Charging stations in Delhi !

Last month, EESL floated its SECOND tender for 10,000 EVs !  But EESL MD , Shri Saurabh Kumar says ,

“ We will wait for DHI ( Department of Heavy Industries ) to issue a final set of specifications for charging stations . Until then, we cannot move ahead with the tender “

{  Foreign Automakers may bag 20 % of Centre’s e-car contract  }

 

Some 300,000  electric cars are going to be purchased by EESL in next 4 years !

Here is further evidence in support of my suggestion to “ Lease “ :

Source :

https://inc42.com/buzz/electric-vehicles-this-week-gurugram-and-hyderabad-goes-ev-savvy-byd-to-set-up-manufacturing-plant-and-more/?utm_source=Inc42+Main&utm_campaign=evening_newsletter_12_May&utm_medium=email

In another development, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to hire 20 electric vehicles (EV) at a cost of Rs 21,500 per month per vehicle against the current Rs 34,000 per vehicle per month, and to set up charging points at its headquarters and zonal offices.

Let us assume that these Electric Buses in Hyderabad, will run for 25 days per month

So , the cost ( hire-charge ) comes to Rs 860 per working day

Now , BEST buses in Mumbai average 189 km run per day ( against target of 200 Km )

If those 20 GHMC Electric buses also average the same mileage , its “ Cost per Km “ would come to Rs 4.5 per Km ! ( I presume , this is NOT a wet-lease and therefore does not include the cost of the driver )

Even if we add the driver’s salary ( Rs 20,000 pm for running 4725 km per month ), that would come to another Rs 4.2 per Km

So the total cost would come to Rs 4.5 + Rs 4.2 = Rs 8.7 per km !

Compare this with BEST’s running cost of Rs 107 per Km !

[ Source : https://myblogepage.blogspot.in/2018/05/ev-electricvehicles-fame.html ]

Here are some other voices ( - afraid to be identified ? ) :

Centre plans Rs 9,000 crore sops to push eco-friendly cars

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/centre-plans-rs-9000-crore-sops-to-push-eco-friendly-cars/articleshow/64152041.cms?

Extract :

"If the target is to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, should we not focus on improving public transport by deploying more buses running on cleaner fuel?" asked an official.

For the same amount ( Rs 5,800 crore ), at least 50 lakh buses can be run across the country, on the lines of orange buses in Delhi, on 'operation-expenditure model', sources said

Saving billions of Yuans per year , was not the only reason why ,

* Chinese city of Shenzhen added some 16,359 Electric buses in last 8 years ( 2,000 per

  year ! ) . At this rate , Mumbai could replace its 3711 diesel buses in less than 2 years !

* Globally, there are an estimated 385,000 fully electric buses, and according to a

   recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance report, 99 percent of them are in China.

*  China adds about 9,500 EV buses every five weeks

*  To further reduce upfront costs, some operators in Shenzhen also choose to lease

    buses from the manufacturers

[ source : https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/05/how-china-charged-into-the-electric-bus-revolution/559571 ]

The question that we need ask is :

When will “ public interest “ overtake the “ vested interests “ ?

14  May  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

 

From: Hemen Parekh [mailto:hcp@recruitguru.com]
Sent: 10 May 2018 12:27
To: nitin.gadkari@nic.in; chiefminister@maharashtra.gov.in; cm@maharashtra.gov.in; gm@bestundertaking.com; addlgm@bestundertaking.com; dgmto@bestundertaking.com; sapawar@bestundertaking.org; min.finance@maharashtra.gov.in; min.transport@maharashtra.gov.in; siam@siam.in; assocham@nic.in; ficci@ficci.com; info@cii.in; transport@bestundertaking.com
Cc: qqgan@buffalo.edu; youhaili@buffalo.edu; ssbhalla@gmail.com; bibek.debroy@gov.in; ashima@igidr.ac.in; rr1@nipfp.org.in; ratanp.watal@gov.in; ceo-niti@nic.in; Indian Think Tanks; Gurudatt Kundapurkar; Haridas Shenoy; vch-niti@gov.in; Pradeep Talpade; Indrajit Sethi; L&T G K Apte; hcp@recruitguru.com
Subject: REFORMS : AT A SNAIL's PACE !

And getting  costlier, too  !

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DNA ( 08 may 2018 ) carries following news re BEST in Mumbai :

One in ten BEST buses not running, hence your wait is longer

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-one-in-ten-best-buses-not-running-hence-your-wait-is-longer-2612637

That means :

Running Cost per bus (  Rs per Km  ):

2007-08  /  2010-11  /  2013-14  /  2016-17

54   /  58   /  86   /  107

Against this, consider the “ PRICE PER KM “ quoted by Goldstone recently for  “ WET LEASING “ of ELECTRIC buses :

“ Goldstone-BYD placed bids as low as  ₹29.28 per km  for a 9-meter AC bus to Bengaluru, followed by  ₹36 per km  bid for a similar one for Hyderabad “

[  source :   Buy or Lease ?      https://myblogepage.blogspot.in/2018/04/buy-or-lease.html    ]

 

And these prices are for a tender for 230+40  buses only  !

BEST fleet has 3711 buses

If BEST were to get its entire fleet as  WET LEASED   from parties like TATA / Ashok Leyland / Goldstone –BYD etc , then it is entirely possible that the quoted price could come down to as low as Rs 27 per Km  !

A SAVING OF  RS 80 PER KM

Now , a BEST bus is supposed to run , 200 km / day

That is 365*200 = 73000 km per year

For those 3711 BEST buses , that amounts to 73,000*3711 = 27, 09,03,000 km per year

So , if we save Rs 80 per km , how much SAVING can we make per year if all those buses were taken on WET LEASE ?

Rs 2160 crore  !

Apart from that , there will be following advantages :

*   No need for an army of Bus Drivers / Conductors / Maintenance people

*   Huge saving of Petrol / Diesel

*   No exhaust fumes , so cleaner air to breathe and less respiratory diseases

Is this likely to happen anytime soon ?

Are you kidding  !

Powerful vested interests are right now busy thwarting the recent tender for 230+40 buses !

10  May  2018

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs