The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday agreed to spend INR 576 billion ($7 billion) to deploy 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities across India under PM e-Bus Seva Scheme, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur stated during a media briefing.
As per Thakur, the federal government will fundfoot 200 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) of the plan's bill, based on a public-private partnership model.
"Out of $7 billion, $2.4 billion will be provided by the central government. The scheme will cover cities with 300,000 and above population. Under this scheme, city bus operations with 10,000 e-buses on Public Private Partnership (PPP) model will be done. This scheme will support bus operations for 10 years," said Thakur.
However, it was not immediately clear if funds for the rest would come from state governments or private companies.
The other important decision taken passed at the CCEA meeting includes loans of up to INR 200,000 ($2,403) for traditional artisans and craftsmen, including weavers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, laundry workers, and barbers.
The cabinet approved the extension Digital India project with an outlay of INR 149 billion ($1.79 billion).
The Union Cabinet also approved seven railway tracking projects worth 325 billion rupees ($3.9 billion) across nine states.