India, March 24 -- The Government on Monday informed the Rajya Sabha that 10,000 air-conditioned e-buses would be provided to 116 cities across 26 States/UTs by the end of 2027 under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme, and a new scheme would be launched thereafter to provide another 35,000 e-buses.

Replying to supplementary queries during Question Hour, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on August 16, 2023, announced that the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme would provide mobility in smaller cities and tackle rising pollution.

Since States were unable to provide adequate finance for e-buses, a target of a total of 10,000 buses was put under the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme for towns with a population between 3 lakh...