Kathmandu, September 17
As many as 41 companies have expressed their interest to supply 55 models of electric buses to Nepal.
In late June, the government had issued a public notice calling proposals to supply electric buses, and in response, it received 41 proposals, informs Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
In December 2018, the government had decided to purchase 300 electric buses for public transportation purpose within four months. However, it was not implemented due to different reasons. Now, the ministry claims the Covid-19 outbreak delayed the process.
Most of the interested suppliers sending proposals to the government now are Chinese. There are some proposals from Australia and India also.
Now, the ministry will develop a specification, and move forward a procurement process by calling for tenders to supply the buses. An official in the ministry says the specification will be finalised considering the status of Nepali roads.
The government has not decided how many buses will be procured in the first phase.
