Editor's Pick: Cabinet approves scheme to have 10,000 e-buses across 169 cities

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet approved a scheme that would add 10,000 e-buses cumulatively to the fleet of city bus services across the country. The idea is to shore up urban infrastructure under green mobility initiatives with a focus on cities having no organised bus services. Broadly, cities with a population of three lakh and above would be covered under the scheme including all the capital cities of Union Territories and the northeastern and hill States. The scheme expects to generate about 45,000 to 50,000 direct jobs. For perspective, an e-bus refers to any bus whose propulsion and accessory systems are powered exclusively by a zero-emissions electricity source. The estimated outlay of the scheme called the PM e-bus Sewa Scheme, has been pegged at Rs 57,613 crore. The Union Government would be providing Rs 20,000 crore with the remaining being borne by States. As per the official statement, the bus operations would be supported for 10 years. States would be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators while the central government would support operations by providing subsidies to the extent mentioned in the scheme. The scheme will be implemented in two segments. For cities covered in the first segment, depot infrastructure would also be developed or upgraded to support the new buses. This would also entail creating a behind-the-meter power infrastructure such as substations. In the second segment, the focus would be on bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, automated fare collection systems and charging infrastructure. The Hindu’s Editorials A necessary brake: On altered weather patterns and infrastructure development Housing for all: On scheme to help the urban poor build houses in cities The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What is the term used to define forest land that has not been notified as such by the Centre or States? Deemed forest Notified forest Declared forest Denotified forest To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 17 August 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Cabinet approves scheme to have 10,000 e-buses across 169 cities On Wednesday, [the Union Cabinet approved a scheme]( that would add 10,000 e-buses cumulatively to the fleet of city bus services across the country. The idea is to shore up urban infrastructure under green mobility initiatives with a focus on cities having no organised bus services. Broadly, cities with a population of three lakh and above would be covered under the scheme including all the capital cities of Union Territories and the northeastern and hill States. The scheme expects to generate about 45,000 to 50,000 direct jobs. For perspective, an e-bus refers to any bus whose propulsion and accessory systems are powered exclusively by a zero-emissions electricity source. The estimated outlay of the scheme called the PM e-bus Sewa Scheme, has been pegged at Rs 57,613 crore. The Union Government would be providing Rs 20,000 crore with the remaining being borne by States. As per the official statement, the bus operations would be supported for 10 years. States would be responsible for running the bus services and making payments to the bus operators while the central government would support operations by providing subsidies to the extent mentioned in the scheme. The scheme will be implemented in two segments. For cities covered in the first segment, depot infrastructure would also be developed or upgraded to support the new buses. This would also entail creating a behind-the-meter power infrastructure such as substations. In the second segment, the focus would be on bus priority, infrastructure, multimodal interchange facilities, automated fare collection systems and charging infrastructure. The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][A necessary brake: On altered weather patterns and infrastructure development]( [Arrow][Housing for all: On scheme to help the urban poor build houses in citiesÂ]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What is the term used to define forest land that has not been notified as such by the Centre or States? - Deemed forest - Notified forest - Declared forest - Denotified forest To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. 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