Bengaluru to get 1,500 electric buses

Bengaluru will soon get 1500 e-buses under the Centre’s ‘Grand e-Mobility Challenge’. The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai is known to have asked the transport department to acquire mini-buses for Bengaluru city as they are deemed feasible for deployment on narrow roads. He also insisted on converting the existing bus fleet to CNG. Convergence Energy Services Ltd. (CESL), a PSU under the Union ministry of power, recently unveiled a tender worth Rs.5,500 crore to induct 5,580 e-buses (5,450 single-decker and 130 double-decker ones) across the country. While Bengaluru gets 1500 buses under this scheme, in similar such initiatives, Kolkata will get a maximum number of 2,000 e-buses; Delhi will get 1500 e-buses, and Hyderabad and Surat will get 300 and 150 respectively. Mumbai will also get 900 double-decker e-buses.