The Maharashtra government’s cancellation of a 5,150 electric bus order awarded to Olectra Greentech has raised fresh concerns about the future of the national electric bus programme (NEBP), which aims to deploy 50,000 e-buses by 2027.
The move could hinder the programme’s progress. Electric buses accounted for just 4% of the 84,132 buses sold in FY25. Achieving the 40% penetration target by 2030 may now face delays.
Financial exposure is another concern. Olectra’s order book has been halved. Its borrowings rose from Rs 4 crore in FY24 to Rs 141 crore in FY25, raising questions about risk to banks and other institutions funding electric mobility. The company has borrowings from SBI, Yes Bank, ICICI, IDBI, and REC.
An industry executive said the order cancellation impacts more than one company. “It could undermine investor confidence across the electric bus ecosystem,” the person said.
Olectra, in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday, said it had not received any formal communication from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). However, Maharashtra transport minister Pratap Baburao Sarnaik said in a post on X that the tender had been cancelled due to the company’s failure to deliver buses on time.
Industry executives also say that the company’s lack of local sourcing has contributed to the delivery delays. One executive pointed out that domestic value addition was minimal, and import dependency remained high. This was also a reason the company did not bid aggressively in the PM e-Bus Seva tender.
Others point to flaws in how MSRTC managed the tender. They argue the state placed a large order with a single firm without a strong track record in high-volume delivery. In contrast, states like Delhi awarded smaller orders across multiple players.
“No single company can deliver 5,000 buses at once,” an executive said. “The earlier approach of dividing orders among L1, L2, and L3 bidders was more practical.”
The company had deployed 2,450 electric buses as of end-2024. Between January 2020 and April 2025, total electric bus deployments stood at about 9,630 units.
On Tuesday, Olectra shares closed down 6.49% to Rs 1,258.05 on the BSE.
