If everything goes as planned, people will see electric buses plying on North Karnataka roads in the next couple of months as a plan by North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) to operate 450 electric buses has received the government’s assent.
The plan to procure e-buses is to meet the increased demand for travel in public transport, particularly after the launch of the Shakti scheme for women.
At present, NWKRTC has 4,830 buses and is operating 4,539 schedules covering an average distance of 15 lakh kilometres every day. While, earlier, 17.48 lakh people made use of the services, it has risen to 24 lakh to 26 lakh after the introduction of the Shakti scheme, Managing Director of NWKRTC Bharath S. has said in a press release.
He has said that the plan to procure e-buses is aimed at increasing the number of schedules in accordance with the increased demand for buses.
As per the plan, NWKRTC plans to allot 200 e-buses for mofussil transport, 150 e-buses for urban transport and 100 e-buses for BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) between Hubballi and Dharwad. The mofussil and urban transport buses will be operated by Hubballi-Dharwad Urban Transport Division, Hubballi Rural Division, Dharwad and Belagavi divisions.
The decision regarding BRTS buses will be based on the outcome of the tender and will be taken in consultation with BRTS officials, the release said.
GCC Model
NWKRTC plans to operate the e-buses on the GCC (Gross Cost Contract) model and payment will be made to those who bag the tender based on the number of kilometres the bus is run.
Mr. Bharath has in the release said that after the NWKRTC submitted the proposal to the State government to operate e-buses under its jurisdiction, the government has given its assent to float tenders for the purpose. Soon, the tender guidelines will be finalised and tenders floated and subsequently, sent to the State government for ratification, he has said.
He has also said that NWKRTC has already deputed officials to KSRTC and BMTC to gather information on e-bus operation in both urban and mofussil segments.
