1 week Ago By Joy Sengupta
Pune: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has imposed a penalty of Rs4 crore on Hyderabad-based Evey Trans Private Limited after it failed to deliver 1,935 electric buses in Jan, as per an agreement. Confirming the development, Madhav Kusekar, vice-chairman and managing director of the state transport utility, said the penalty calculations were done on the basis of the contract signed by MSRTC and the company. "We have sent them another notice regarding the delivery of buses and they have orally told us that they will need five to six months more.
" At present, there are just 220 vehicles on the e-bus fleet . MSRTC in June 2022 launched its first e-bus — ‘Shivai' — between Pune and Ahmednagar. More than a year later, in Nov 2023, it entered into an agreement with Evey Trans Private Limited for the supply of 5,150 buses over a two-year period, which would run on lease by MSRTC.
As per the terms, the company was to deliver 1,935 e-buses by Jan 2025 and the remaining by June 2026. "The timetable has been revised now. The company has been asked to deliver all the buses (5,150) by March next year," Abhijit Bhosle, public relations officer of MSRTC, said.
Despite several attempts via email and calls, the Hyderabad firm could not be contacted for a comment. Last week, transport minister Pratap Sarnaik, at a review meeting, directed MSRTC to send the company a final notice questioning the delay in delivery of buses. If the company did not respond positively, the contract should be terminated, the minister said.
An MSRTC official said the delay is a cause of concern as by now more than 2000 e-buses would have been inducted. "There was a plan to depute them across the state. Pune was to be the hub, and we also planned many e-buses from Pune to different districts.
The aim is to run buses on clean and green fuel and gradually ditch the diesel-run vehicles." Currently, MSRTC's e-buses ply mainly from Pune to Mumbai. The transport utility has proposed to convert part of the Swargate terminus into an e-bus depot with multiple charging points and other related amenities.
"All this will be possible only after more buses have joined the fleet," a Pune division official said. Pune: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation has imposed a penalty of Rs4 crore on Hyderabad-based Evey Trans Private Limited after it failed to deliver 1,935 electric buses in Jan, as per an agreement. Confirming the development, Madhav Kusekar, vice-chairman and managing director of the state transport utility, said the penalty calculations were done on the basis of the contract signed by MSRTC and the company.
"We have sent them another notice regarding the delivery of buses and they have orally told us that they will need five to six months more." At present, there are just 220 vehicles on the e-bus fleet. MSRTC in June 2022 launched its first e-bus — ‘Shivai' — between Pune and Ahmednagar.
More than a year later, in Nov 2023, it entered into an agreement with Evey Trans Private Limited for the supply of 5,150 buses over a two-year period, which would run on lease by MSRTC. As per the terms, the company was to deliver 1,935 e-buses by Jan 2025 and the remaining by June 2026. "The timetable has been revised now.
The company has been asked to deliver all the buses (5,150) by March next year," Abhijit Bhosle, public relations officer of MSRTC, said. Despite several attempts via email and calls, the Hyderabad firm could not be contacted for a comment. Last week, transport minister Pratap Sarnaik, at a review meeting, directed MSRTC to send the company a final notice questioning the delay in delivery of buses.
If the company did not respond positively, the contract should be terminated, the minister said. An MSRTC official said the delay is a cause of concern as by now more than 2000 e-buses would have been inducted. "There was a plan to depute them across the state.
Pune was to be the hub, and we also planned many e-buses from Pune to different districts. The aim is to run buses on clean and green fuel and gradually ditch the diesel-run vehicles." Currently, MSRTC's e-buses ply mainly from Pune to Mumbai.
The transport utility has proposed to convert part of the Swargate terminus into an e-bus depot with multiple charging points and other related amenities. "All this will be possible only after more buses have joined the fleet," a Pune division official said..
