The Delhi transport department has approved the process to float of tenders for 400 electric buses that are likely to be inducted into the city’s cluster bus network by the end of this year, according to a senior government official.
“The tender will be floated next week. Delhi so far has 300 e-buses in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) fleet,” the senior official, who asked not to be named, said on Friday.
The Delhi government plans to have 1,000 operational e-buses in the city by mid-2022, which is part of a larger plan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to add 4,000 buses to the city’s fleet by the end next year. Delhi currently has around 7,000 buses, including the DTC and cluster bus networks, in its public bus fleet. The plan includes standard floor and low floor buses -- some of them air conditioned.
“With the proposed 400 new e-buses, Delhi is also likely to become the city with the largest fleet of e-buses. Currently, Pune has 600 e-buses in its fleet,” the official cited above said.
Last week, the Delhi cabinet also approved initiating the bidding process for 160 low-floor air-conditioned buses. In January, the Cabinet approved funds for 1,000 low-floor buses but the tender and bidding processes were delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the senior official.
{{/usCountry}}Last week, the Delhi cabinet also approved initiating the bidding process for 160 low-floor air-conditioned buses. In January, the Cabinet approved funds for 1,000 low-floor buses but the tender and bidding processes were delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the senior official.
{{/usCountry}}The plan to procure e-buses is in alignment with the government’s electric vehicle (EV) policy -- notified last August as part of a long-term action plan against pollution -- which aims to ensure at least 25% of all registered vehicles in Delhi by 2023 are electric. The central government notified a similar scheme in 2019 -- Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in India [FAME] Phase-II -- which aims to generate demand for electric and hybrid vehicles.
The buses are supposed to comply with BS-VI emission standards, and will be equipped with GPS, CCTV cameras and panic buttons to enhance the security of women commuters. The government has set up a control room in Kashmere Gate for the real-time tracking of its fleet.