Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited is preparing to transform government transportation in the state capital by launching a centralised electric vehicle (EV) fleet for government departments starting with the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The initiative aims to replace diesel-powered vehicles with environment-friendly EVs and promote green mobility across the city.
Under the proposed project, corporation will act as an EV aggregator and develop a fleet of nearly 2,500 electric vehicles, which will be provided to government departments on a lease model.
The centralised system is being designed in collaboration with private EV operators and vehicle manufacturers to simplify the procurement process for departments.
Officials said departments currently have lengthy tender procedures, rate contracts and multiple approvals while replacing conventional vehicles with EVs. Due to limited demand from individual departments, private transport operators often show little interest in participating.
The new model seeks to eliminate these administrative hurdles by allowing departments to directly place vehicle requests with Smart City Development Corporation, which will then provide EVs from its fleet at predetermined lease rates.
The latter has already adopted EVs extensively in last five years with nearly 80% of its transportation operations currently running on electric vehicles.
Major push for EV infrastructure: Pic green push 1
The project is aligned with the state government's Madhya Pradesh Electric Vehicle Policy, which encourages the adoption of electric vehicles in government operations.
Alongside fleet management, Smart City Development Corporation and Bhopal City Link Limited are also working to strengthen the city's EV infrastructure.
As part of the plan, around 70 modern EV charging stations will be established at key administrative and commercial locations across Bhopal to support the growing use of electric vehicles.
“The initiative will make use of environment-friendly EVs easier for government departments. Our objective is to free city roads from fuel-based vehicles.”
Anju Arun, Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation CEO
