Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) flagged off a prototype of the new set of 921 electric buses manufactured by Tata Motors. These buses will be inducted in a phased manner this financial year. BMTC already has a fleet of 390 electric buses which these 921 new buses will join, taking the total number of electric buses on city streets to 1,311 by the end of this fiscal year. These buses have been inducted under the FAME-II scheme of the Government of India.
These buses will run on a Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model basis under which the operating fare of these buses will be ₹41.01 per km. These buses are 12.0 metre long, low-floor electric buses with a floor height of just 40 c.m. It has a seating capacity of 35 passengers.
The prototype flagged off on Friday will ply on route 96-A which is a circular route that starts and ends at Kempegowda Bus Stand and goes through Rajajinagar. A single circular trip will be 14.7 k.m. long. These 921 buses will be deployed at Shanthinagara, Jayanagara, Hennuru, Deepanajli Nagar, R.R. Nagar, Peenya 2nd Stage, Jigani, K.R. Pura, Seegehalli, and Hosakote depots, a BMTC press statement said.
Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy who flagged off the prototype of the bus said, the government was presently on course to rope in 1500 electric buses to BMTC but wants to eventually have at least 4000 electric buses on the fleet. “Our government has provided 500 crore for the Road Transport Corporations to buy new buses this year and has also permitted the recruitment of 13,000 staffers including drivers, conductors, and mechanics,” he said.
Rohit Srivastava, Vice President and Head of the Bus Product Line at Tata Motors said that these electric buses “mark a pivotal step towards revolutionising and driving sustainable electric mobility solutions”.
