India, June 24 -- Olectra Greentech, one of BEST's wet-lease operators, will no longer supply 1,414 electric buses after pulling out of a 2022 contract under which it was to deliver a fleet of 2,100 buses to the undertaking. In a parallel development, the undertaking has received the nod to induct 1,500 air-conditioned electric midi-buses under the wet-lease model.

On Tuesday, BEST general manager Sonia Sethi told the BEST committee that Olectra had exited its contract. The company, plagued by delivery delays and massive financial penalties over the years, cited subsidy issues for pulling out of the contract. It added that it had delivered 686 of the 2,100 e-buses under the 2022 deal.

"We will not be able to fulfil the contract of the r...