Delhi govt to focus on procuring e-buses

New Delhi, Aug. 25: In a bid to boost public transport without raising the city’s air pollution, the transport department of Delhi government has now decided to focus on procurement of electric buses, officials said on Wednesday.

The government has given the go-ahead for procurement of 465 e-buses under the cluster scheme and tenders for it are expected to be floated soon, a senior Transport department officer said.

Also, 300 electric buses being engaged by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) are expected to roll out from November, he said. The induction of 300 electric buses by the DTC in one go will be the largest engagement of its type by any state transporter, he said, adding the entire fleet of e-buses is likely to be inducted by February 2022.

Sources claimed that it has been decided at the level of Transport Department to induct ebuses only in the public transport fleet in coming days to curb the air pollution in the city.

The Transport Department is also planning to ready Burari and Saray Kale Khan depots for these electric buses that will roll out in coming months, officials said.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier said the Delhi government is committed to switching public transport to electric mode to fight the high level of air pollution in Delhi. The parking space is also being readied for DTC e-buses at its Subhash Place Depot, Mayapuri Depot, Rohini-II Depot, Rajghat-II Depot and Mundela Kalan Depot.

The engagement of electric buses in the DTC fleet is based on the OPEX (operating expense) model. It has been operating buses owned by it so far.

Bus operators JBM and Tata Motors will operate 200 and 100 buses respectively, officials said.

Under the scheme, the buses will operate a minimum 140 km in a single charge. The operator will provide the driver and the DTC will depute its own conductor in the buses.

The operator will be responsible for maintaining buses or batteries throughout the concession period of 10 years.