Gurugram Sec-10 depot to soon become e-bus charging station

Haryana officials said 200 electric air-conditioned buses are being procured for Gurugram and Faridabad.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited has started laying high-tension transmission lines to transform the existing depot of the Gurugram metropolitan city bus limited in Sector 10 into an electric bus charging station, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

A view of Gurugram’s skyline. (HT Archive)

Discom officials said that the work order was issued to a private firm which was selected for the project after a tendering process. Shyambir Saini, superintending engineer, Circle-I, said that the project was expected to be completed by the end of March.

“The work began more than a fortnight ago. However, we rigorously monitored the developments as the central government was involved in this so the project is now on the verge of completion. We expect that the work will be completed in the next 10-12 days,” he said.

Officials said that the transmission lines will be 11kV and 1.3-km-long and will supply power to the depot from the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited’s 66kV substation in Sector 9.

According to DHBVN officials, the transmission line will be an independent one and will also be connected to alternate sources so that any power outage won’t affect the electricity supply to the charging stations. Discom officials said that at least three high-power transformers will be installed at the depot with the third one as spare for mitigating any fault.

“This amount will later be reimbursed by the central government as it is providing subsidies on the e-bus project. At least ₹5.5 crore to ₹6 crore will be required to completely transform the depot into a charging station for 100 electric buses and most of the expenses will be borne by the Centre in the form of subsidies,” he said, adding that the equipment and wires for internal electrification have also arrived at the depot.

Nagpal said that the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has separately floated a tender worth ₹3.57 crore for internal wiring and installation works to set up the charging bays at the depot.

Haryana transport department officials said that 200 electric air-conditioned buses of 9-metre length were being procured for Gurugram and Faridabad. Officials said that it may take up to four months for delivery of the buses to start in these cities.

“Once the Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority gets its own fleet of 100 e-buses, the 50 GMCBL buses which run there at present will be recalled and deployed in Gurugram again. The GMCBL fleet strength will climb to 308 buses which will enable us to increase connectivity and start several new routes in the city especially for corporate employees,” said a GMCBL official.

On January 28 and 29, ten 12-metre-long air-conditioned e-buses were launched in Panipat and Yamunanagar respectively making them the first places to have such mass transport vehicles in Haryana, said transport officials.