BEST to procure 1,900 more electric buses for Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) will introduce 1,900 fully-electric buses in the fleet in a phased manner.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) will introduce 1,900 fully-electric buses in the fleet in a phased manner.

On Monday, BEST had issued a tender notice calling for bidders for procuring the new buses. A proposal will be passed by the BEST committee, following which the procurement of the buses will begin.

The management has prepared a proposal for the procurement. On Monday, BEST had issued a tender notice calling for bidders for procuring the new buses. A proposal will be passed by the BEST committee, following which the procurement of the buses will begin.

“A tender notice has been issued and bidders have been called. A detailed proposal on the requirement and the time frame of procurement will be discussed with the bidders. The earlier electric buses were procured under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles (FAME)-2 scheme,” said a senior BEST official. The FAME scheme promotes the use of electric vehicles in the country.

“Very happy to hear that @myBESTBus has put out a tender notice for 1900 fully electric buses. Currently, Mumbai has 386 electric buses. The @MahaEnvCC is also assisting other cities in Maharashtra to increase their bus fleets with help of policies of Government of India and Government of Maharashtra (sic),” tweeted Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray.

An electric bus can travel up to 200km in a single charge.

Currently, BEST has 386 electric buses operational in the city. The organisation also has midi electric buses that are used on its feeder routes.

In August, BEST had introduced 24 electric buses. The organisation is also constructing electric vehicle-charging stations in its bus depots, while such stations have already been set up at Dharavi and Worli depots.