The introduction of electric buses is ushering in a new era of bus service provision in India. Electric buses are an expensive new technology with significant variations in operations, planning, and maintenance compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) buses. Cities are yet to identify the electric bus technologies that best fit their operating conditions.

With a greater number of electric buses being deployed, it is important to evaluate the performance of already deployed electric buses to improve their operational performance and inform future procurement choices. Many bus agencies are also witnessing a change in business models, with many bus service providers moving towards the Gross-Cost Contract (GCC) procurement model under FAME-II as opposed to an ownership model. Performance monitoring of service providers is crucial to ensuring the transparent functioning of GCC operations.

This report focuses on the National Framework for Electric Bus Performance Evaluation, discussing the ecosystem required, the framework’s potential applications, and the indicators to be evaluated.