Delhi expected to get first electric bus in February: 10 things to know

The electric buses will not only help in reducing the pollution levels, but also aid in providing transport solutions in Delhi. The Delhi government has announced that it will only procure e-buses in the future.

Delhi will soon get a fleet of electric buses. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Monday shared a photo of the first prototype which arrived in the national capital a day before.

The first electric bus prototype arrived in Delhi on Sunday. (Twitter/@kgahlot)

“Congrats Delhi! After a long wait, prototype of DTC's first 100% Electric bus has reached Delhi! Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal will soon flag off this Electric bus,” Gahlot wrote on Twitter.

The first set of these electric buses are expected to be rolled out for mass public transport in February.

Delhi currently has a fleet of 6,793 buses, of which 3,760 are run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and 3,033 are operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited through the state transport department.

Here’s everything you need to know about these electric buses:

• The DTC is initially procuring 300 e-buses whose delivery was due to begin in November last year. It was delayed due to various reasons, including the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

• They will also have GPS trackers, panic buttons and CCTV cameras among other features.

• The prototype bus, which arrived on Sunday, is currently being tested by the state transport department and the vehicle manufacturer JBM Auto Limited.

• There are 2,300 total electric buses in the pipeline. Out of these, 1,300 will be procured by the DTC and the rest 1,000 will operate under the cluster scheme.

• It will be another six months before the cluster electric buses are rolled out.

• Gahlot said on Monday that e-buses will be added in batches of about 50 every month after the first roll out in February.

• The Delhi government will equip bus depots with charging stations for these e-buses. This will be done in phases.

• Further, the DTC will build four “hybrid” bus depots, which will be a combination of electric and CNG buses. These will be the Subhash Place depot, Rajghat depot, Hasanpur depot and Bawana.

• The plan to induct e-buses in Delhi was first announced in July, 2018. In the future, the Delhi government will procure only electric buses.