Gurugram seeks 500 additional e-buses from Centre

A proposal seeking 500 additional electric buses has been sent to the Union housing and urban affairs ministry through the MCG.

The Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) has sought 500 additional buses from the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs under the urban renewal fund to expand the capacity of the Gurugaman city bus service, officials aware of the matter said.

Minister Rao Narbir Singh said the routes for operating the first batch of 100 electric buses have already been finalised. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

The development comes as Gurugaman is expected to receive 100 new e-buses within the next one to two months under the PM e-seva scheme.

Senior officials said the GMCBL routed its request through the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), which has submitted a proposal to the Union ministry seeking allocation of 500 buses for the city.

Vishwajit Chaudhary, CEO, GMCBL, said the corporation requires additional buses to expand public transport coverage across Gurugram.

“We need to expand the city bus service and for that we have sought 500 additional buses from the central government scheme. A proposal in this regard has been submitted by the MCG to the union ministry of housing and urban affairs,” he said.

The GMCBL currently operates 150 buses in Gurugram and 50 in Faridabad under the Gurugaman service.

According to the proposal prepared by GMCBL, the corporation plans to establish e-depots in sectors 52-53, 65, 103 and 112, along with another depot in Manesar. It also proposes converting the existing bus depot in sectors 52-53 into an e-bus depot.

Officials said the corporation is working with HSVP for construction of an e-bus depot in Sector 65. In Sector 103, a depot is proposed on around 7.25 acres of land. Detailed project reports (DPRs) are also being prepared for e-bus depots in Naharpur Kasan and Sector 112.

The proposal states that expansion of the city bus service has been hampered due to shortage of buses and that additional buses would help improve connectivity to several villages, sectors and colonies across old and new Gurugram.

Referring to operational expenditure, the proposal estimates the running cost of 100 e-buses at ₹55.47 per kilometre. It states that operating 500 buses over a 12-year period would cost around ₹2,154 crore, assuming each bus covers 180 kilometres daily. Collectively, the 500 buses are projected to cover 90,000 kilometres per day.

The proposal also estimates that development of five e-depots would cost ₹85 crore.

“Steps are being taken to strengthen the transportation infrastructure in Gurugram. One hundred e-buses are set to arrive within the next two months, and the routes for their operation have already been finalised. In this regard, a proposal has been submitted through the Municipal Corporation to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs requesting the provision of an additional 500 e-buses,” Chaudhary said.