220 Electric Buses for Gujarat, and Montra Takes on Assam's Growing E-Rickshaw Market

Representative image (AI-generated)

Two separate stories this week show India's electric public transport and last-mile mobility push expanding well beyond the usual metro-city headlines.

220 electric buses, a 12-year commitment, three Gujarat cities

On 26 October, Jakson Green said it had won a CESL tender to supply and operate 220 electric buses across three Gujarat cities under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme, on a 12-year Gross Cost Contract: 120 buses for Vadodara, 80 for Gandhidham and 20 for Navsari, all 9-metre AC buses (company statement, via Autocar Professional). Long-tenure contracts like this matter in electric bus deployment — a 12-year commitment gives the operator real certainty to plan charging infrastructure, maintenance and battery replacement cycles around, rather than scrambling year to year.

Montra Electric bets on Assam's e3W boom

Separately, on 28 October, Montra Electric said it had opened a new dealership in Guwahati (as reported by Autocar Professional), specifically to serve what it's calling Assam's growing electric three-wheeler market. Electric three-wheelers (e-rickshaws and last-mile cargo autos) have quietly become one of the fastest-adopting EV categories in India, especially in Tier-2 towns and the Northeast, where they're often a primary earning vehicle for drivers rather than a discretionary purchase.

Why the geography here matters

Both stories point to the same broader trend: India's EV growth story is no longer just a Delhi-Mumbai-Bengaluru phenomenon. A 12-year bus contract in Gujarat and a dedicated e3W dealership in Guwahati both reflect manufacturers and operators betting on EV demand well outside the usual metro clusters — in public transport and in commercial last-mile categories where the economics of running electric, rather than petrol or diesel, already clearly make sense.