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Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah announces addition of 1,400 electric buses to BMTC fleet by April 2024
Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar flagged off 100 non-AC electric buses at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru today, and also took a ride in one of the buses.
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In good news for commuters in Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is all set to add around 1,400 new electric buses to its fleet, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Tuesday. He along with his deputy, DK Shivakumar, flagged off a 100 non-AC electric buses at the Vidhana Soudha in the Karnataka capital today.
The duo also took a ride in one of the buses after the programme. CM Siddaramaiah spoke to reporters about the matter and said the 1,400 new buses will be added to the BMTC's fleet by April next year.
"So far, Karnataka women have undertaken 120 crore rides in state transport buses for free since the launch of the Shakti scheme. A total of 40 lakh people travel on BMTC every day. In this, women of all castes, all religions and all walks of life are travelling for free," He told news agency PTI.
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The decision was taken in a bid to conserve the environment and also promote public transport in the city, which faces commute and traffic issues on the regular.
"Due to our guarantees, the purchasing power of people and the economic activity of the state is also increasing. These schemes save a lot of money for labourers, farmers and women. They use that money for other needs of their family. Thus, the economic power of millions of families is also increasing," The chief minister said.
"About 4.30 crore people of the state are directly benefiting from the government guarantee schemes. By that, the poor and working classes are being brought into the mainstream of economic progress," he added.
READ | Shakti scheme in Karnataka clocks 100 crore free rides in five months. Details
"Through economic empowerment, financial independence has been achieved for all women, poor, working class and middle class families in the state. The Congress government had come to power to achieve this. The previous BJP regime did nothing to empower people. Instead, they are criticising," he further stated.
(With inputs from PTI)
