Consultancy tender supports electric bus integration into clean air programmes
A new study will test how electric buses can support a wider clean air programme, highlighting the role of consultancy in shaping low-emission transport.
A new study will test how electric buses can support a wider clean air programme, highlighting the role of consultancy in shaping low-emission transport.
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A new study in Punjab is set to test how electric buses can be woven into a wider clean air programme, with a focus on practical business models and deployment strategies that protect public health.
On 9th December 2025, the Transport and Mass Transit Department, Project Implementation Unit, published a prior information notice for an E-Bus Business Model Study. The Department plans to engage a consulting firm to study electric bus business models and to recommend “suitable deployment strategies”.
The work sits inside the Punjab Clean Air Program, which is described as aiming to improve air quality and public health. While the notice is concise, it confirms that cleaner transport solutions are now a defined part of the programme’s toolkit, alongside more traditional air quality measures.
The focus on “business models” signals an interest in the financial and operational underpinnings of any future e‑bus rollout, rather than only the technology. The Department wants evidence on how electric buses can be deployed in a way that fits the local context and supports the wider clean air objectives.
This latest notice builds on a series of procurements under the Punjab Clean Air Program. In August 2025, the same Transport and Masstransit Department issued a broader prior information notice for the Punjab Clean Air Program, outlining plans to “enhance air quality management in Punjab through various goods and services procurement, including technical assistance and environmental initiatives”. That notice also stated that the programme is funded by the World Bank.
By November 2025, attention had turned to measuring progress. The Punjab Clean Air Program’s Coordination and Monitoring Unit issued a separate notice for third party verification of disbursement linked indicators, again under the same programme and “aimed at reducing air pollution”. Together, these steps show a programme architecture that spans design, implementation support and independent verification.
The new e‑bus study adds a transport dimension. It suggests that authorities see public transport – and specifically electric buses – as a lever for cleaner air, rather than treating air quality as a purely industrial or household energy issue.
The move is consistent with developments elsewhere in the region. In July 2025, the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority in Bangladesh convened a stakeholder consultation for the Bangladesh Clean Air Project, a scheme “aimed at improving air quality and reducing emissions, with an emphasis on electric buses and related infrastructure”. Both initiatives position e‑buses not as stand‑alone pilots but as components of larger clean air strategies.
The e‑bus business model work also illustrates a broader dependence on specialist consultancy to design, stress‑test and monitor public programmes linked to air quality, climate and urban services.
In Türkiye, for example, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change issued a prior information notice in September 2025 for a Carbon Market Development Project. There, consulting services are sought for economic modelling of an emissions trading system, again as part of a World Bank‑funded project. As in Punjab, external economic and technical advice is being used to shape the core market design.
In the water sector, the Project Management Unit for the Second Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project is seeking a consulting firm to implement a Corrective Action Plan for resettlement and community support, as set out in its August 2025 prior information notice. Here the emphasis is on safeguards and compliance, but the pattern is similar: complex infrastructure projects are paired with dedicated consultancy packages.
Punjab’s own procurement system is also under review through consultancy. In October 2025, the Public Financial Management Reform Unit announced plans to hire a firm to assess and redesign the Government of Punjab’s e‑Procurement System and Public Procurement Portal, as part of the Punjab Resource Improvement and Digital Effectiveness programme. That assignment is framed around usability and governance, showing that data and platforms are seen as part of the enabling environment for programmes like the Punjab Clean Air Program.
Even communication and behaviour change are being outsourced to specialist firms. In June 2025, the Finance Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa signalled its intention to procure an experienced consulting firm to design a “behaviorally informed communication campaign” to raise awareness of property and sales taxes, according to its prior information notice on tax awareness. That same behavioural lens could prove relevant when authorities later seek public acceptance of new e‑bus systems.
The Punjab Clean Air Program is not operating in isolation. Across the province, other procurement plans hint at a more integrated approach to urban development, infrastructure and data systems that could intersect with cleaner transport policies.
The Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company, for instance, plans to hire engineering consultancy firms for detailed design and resident supervision of water supply, sewerage and storm water drainage projects in seven cities under the Punjab Inclusive Cities Program, as set out in its October 2025 notice. Better-managed streets and drainage can, over time, affect how bus systems operate and how resilient they are to weather and pollution.
Housing policy is moving along similar lines. In August 2025, a notice from The Urban Sector Planning and Management Services Unit Pvt. Ltd sought consultancy services for planning, architecture, detailed design and resident construction supervision for the Punjab Affordable Housing Program in Faisalabad. Though focused on housing, such projects shape travel patterns and demand for public transport, underlining the value of aligning e‑bus deployment with wider urban planning.
Digital land and data systems are also being upgraded. On 2nd December 2025, the Punjab Land Records Authority announced plans to hire a third‑party firm to provide software development, GIS, data‑centre and IT resources on an as‑needed basis under the Punjab Urban Land Systems Enhancement Project. Richer spatial data could later inform where e‑buses are most needed and how routes interact with land use, even though that link is not yet explicit in the tenders.
Across these different strands, several initiatives – including the Punjab Clean Air Program and Türkiye’s carbon market work – are explicitly described as World Bank‑funded. Development finance is therefore playing a visible role in shaping how transport, air quality and urban infrastructure are planned and governed.
The E-Bus Business Model Study is still at the prior information stage, so detailed terms of reference and procurement documents have yet to be published. The eventual scope will show how far the study is asked to go – whether it focuses mainly on financial feasibility, on operational planning, or on integration with other elements of the Punjab Clean Air Program.
Observers will be watching how the study’s findings connect to the programme’s disbursement linked indicators, and whether they translate into concrete decisions on electric bus deployment. Taken together with clean air and climate‑related consultancies in Bangladesh, Türkiye and across Pakistan, the work in Punjab could become a reference point for how public authorities use specialist advice to move from air quality goals to actionable, low‑emission transport plans.
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