MUMBAI, 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 an approval 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 remaining 1,414 e-buses as we were to get a subsidy of Rs.15 lakh per bus from the state government via BEST but we have received the subsidy for only 10 buses. Hence, we no longer want to pursue the subsidy and are closing the chapter," said sources in Olectra. The company will, however, honour another contract, for 2,400 e-buses, that does not involve a subsidy. "We plan to deliver 50 buses per month from August and 100 from December," said the source. The BEST Committee on Tuesday approved a proposal to induct 1,500 air-conditioned electric midi-buses under the wet-lease model. The buses, which will be procured at a rate of Rs.60.25 per km, will enter service from next year. The 9-metre-long electric buses will primarily operate as feeder services connecting residential colonies and major transit points with metro and railway stations across Mumbai. Their procurement will be subsidised under the central government's PM E-Drive Scheme. The proposal will ensure that BEST's fleet expansion plans remain on track despite the earlier delivery delays. The BEST currently operates a fleet of 2,766 buses. The latest proposal aligns with the undertaking's target to increase its fleet strength to 7,000 buses by 2027. The undertaking is also expecting 3,700 air-conditioned e-buses to be delivered by the end of the current financial year....