More buses, subsidy on eco-friendly options
NEWDELHI: Facing flak for its inability to augment the public bus system — taking the fleet size to an eight-year low — the Delhi government this year refocused on bringing more buses on the roads, with eco-friendly alternatives being the highlight.
The Aam Aadmi Party government on Thursday announced in its budget that it will provide 50% concession in registration charges for factory-fitted CNG kits in private cars, to encourage nonpolluting fuels.
Delhi finance minister Manish Sisodia said that the Delhi government has allocated 10%, amounting to ₹5,145 crore, of the total budget this year for improving transport infrastructure. He said that along with the subsidies provided by the government for the purchase of electric cars, it will now slash the registration rates for CNG factory-fitted kits.
However, the concession will only be provided on new vehicles. The registration charge of a vehicle depends on the make and the engine strength of the vehicle.
This year, the government has claimed to have laid emphasis on improving public transport services, keeping environment protection in mind. It has announced the preparation of a comprehensive electric vehicle policy. This will be done by converting Bharat Stage-ii and BS-III emission standards compliant two wheelers, taxi fleet, commercial goods carriers into electric fleet.
The government has also announced the introduction of 1,000 e-buses along with 905 electric Metro feeder buses. To integrate the transport network in the national capital, the Common Mobility Card will also be imple- mented in all buses from April this year.
Sewa Ram of School of Planning and Architecture said that though the government is concentrating on promoting e-vehicles, no investment is being made in developing the infrastructure for its maintenance. He also said that instead of providing a 50% concession for CNG cars, additional benefits should have been given for e-vehicles.
“On one hand if you are promoting e-vehicles, efforts should be put in to encourage the use of these by private users too. These schemes will be unable to take off if there are no charging stations,” he said. Ram, who was also a part of the expert committee set up by the government for DTC bus route rationalising, said that Delhi, at present, requires minimum 11,000 buses to meet its commuter demands; it still faces a deficit of around 6,000 buses. The budget proposes introduction of 1,000 DTC buses to its fleet, but it has not specified the routes in which these buses will ply. 530 land sites identified for new
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A strong public bus network is imperative for a city’s infrastructure SEWA RAM, School of Planning and Architecture