Olectra Greentech shares jump 5% on electric bus order

Shares of electric bus maker Olectra Greentech Ltd rose as much as 5% on Monday after its subsidiary Evey Trans Pvt. Ltd. (EVEY) received two letters of awards from Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) for 550 electric buses.

The order consists of 500 buses for intra-city and 50 buses for inter-city operations, respectively.

Reacting to the development, the Olectra Greentech stock jumped to ₹550.95 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

These orders for supply of 500 electric buses and 50 electric buses are to be on Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model basis for a period of 12 years and 10 years, respectively, the bus maker says in a stock exchange filing.

EVEY shall procure these buses from Olectra Greentech and which shall be delivered over a period of 16 months, it adds.

The value of these 550 buses supply would be round ₹1,000 crore for Olectra, the filing says, adding that maintenance of these buses shall also be undertaken by Olectra during the contract period.

This comes days after Olectra announced its technical partnership with Reliance Industries to develop hydrogen buses.

The development of a fully carbon-free alternative to traditional public transport is a significant step towards achieving India's carbon-free hydrogen ambitions, and it could have a positive impact on the environment by reducing air pollution and emissions, the company said.

“The Hydrogen bus is a fully carbon-free alternative to traditional public transportation. In the wake of the depletion of natural resources and the negative impacts of air pollution and emissions, Olectra has taken the initiative to accelerate the development of Hydrogen-powered buses. This initiative will help out the Indian Government to achieve its carbon-free hydrogen ambitions,” it added.

The 12-metre low-floor bus has a customisable seating capacity of between 32 and 49 seats for passengers and one driver seat. A single hydrogen fill allows the bus to travel up to 400 km. Hydrogen for this range coverage takes just about 15 minutes.

Olectra aims at commercially launching these buses within a year.

“When it comes to emissions, these buses generate only water as tailpipe emissions. This is the main unique selling proposition for phasing out old diesel and petrol systems and replacing them with these green buses,” the company said.