(file photo) The company has completed deliveries under its existing electric bus orders and recently won a smaller state contract in Tamil Nadu for 200 vehicles. | Photo credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE
India’s largest commercial vehicle maker has already delivered about 3,600 battery-powered buses to cities in the past seven years, CEO Girish Wagh said in an interview. That experience, he said, has pushed Tata to adopt more disciplined pricing as it weighs the full operational and financial risks embedded in India’s bus purchasing model.
The upcoming tender requires operators to operate and maintain buses for 12 years, a structure that, among other things, shifts long-term performance and safety risks to suppliers.
“Running buses for 12 years is not just about delivering vehicles – it is about safety management, uptime, passenger convenience, fines and claims over the entire period,” Wagh said. “Those risks have to be priced in.”
Tata’s insistence on factoring in these risks has cost the company a lot of money in recent tenders from Convergence Energy Services Ltd., a state-backed agency that aggregates demand for electric buses. Newer rivals have won orders by bidding much lower, while Tata has stuck to requirements for payment security, asset-light participation and returns over the full term of the contract, Wagh said.
Some of those aggressive bidders are now reassessing their prices after facing operational realities, he added, without sharing more details.
The company has completed deliveries under its existing electric bus orders and recently won a smaller state contract in Tamil Nadu for 200 vehicles. The upcoming CESL tender for around 6,000 electric buses will be the next big test of whether Tata can win new contracts while sticking to its strategy of price discipline.
Tata Motors, the new commercial vehicle unit that was listed separately on the stock exchange in November last year, is planning its first major product offensive after the demerger.
The company on Tuesday introduced 17 truck models, including electric variants, as it revamps its commercial vehicle range. Capital expenditure is expected to remain at around 2% to 4% of sales, Wagh said, as the company works to complete the acquisition of Iveco Group NV’s commercial vehicles business this financial year ending March 31.
More stories like this are available at bloomberg.com
Published on January 20, 2026
#Tata #Motors #bid #ebuses #participating #price #wars