Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar’s attempts to favour fossil fuel-powered buses instead of electric buses for the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) soon after taking charge received some major pushback from within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Friday. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA V.K. Prasanth fired the first salvo, followed by Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran and CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan, all of whom firmly indicated that electric buses are the way forward for the KSRTC as far as city services are concerned.
When asked about the Minister’s comments during a press conference, Mr. Govindan said that KSRTC’s electric shift was part of a clear policy decision. “The Cabinet runs things, not the Minister. The LDF will not withdraw any service that is beneficial to the public. This is not an issue concerning one Minister. The entire Cabinet is involved in these decisions,” said Mr. Govindan.
Policy decision
Mr. Prasanth, MLA, representing the Vattiyurkavu constituency in the capital where more than a hundred electric buses were introduced into service in the past year, said that the electric buses were introduced as part of a well thought out policy decision to turn Thiruvananthapuram into a solar city and to cut down on air pollution.
“By now, the electric buses have got wide acceptance among the city residents. The KSRTC should be thinking about ways to turn this into a profitable service and to also have an efficient maintenance system in place,” he said.
‘Carbon-neutral Thiruvananthapuram’
Although she did not explicitly refer to the Minister’s comments, Ms. Rajendran highlighted the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s ‘Carbon-neutral Thiruvananthapuram’ project to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2040, of which the electric buses are an important component. She said that 60 buses purchased by the Corporation and handed over to the KSRTC are already running successfully. Twenty more electric buses and two electric double decker buses are ready to be handed over. She also made a call for united efforts to turn the capital carbon neutral.
The public opinion in social media discussions on the issue has also been largely in favour of further expanding the electric bus services in the city. The introduction of the circular electric bus services has drastically improved public transport connectivity in the capital, as several routes with no services earlier are now part of the network. The fare of ₹10 for a single trip had also made the circular service a popular choice for the working class in the city.
Cost component
Mr. Ganesh Kumar had said that the electric buses purchased spending less than ₹1 crore had become a liability for the corporation as revenue had been less than that of diesel-powered buses. Further, at least four diesel buses could be procured at the cost of ₹1 crore. There was no guarantee on the life of electric buses such as how long they could be operated. Many had seen the Minister’s comments against electric buses as part of a game of one upmanship between the smaller constituent parties in the LDF.
The KSRTC had earlier maintained that it was only after the introduction of electric buses that the city circular service started netting profit. The average revenue of electric buses per km was ₹35 while the expense was ₹23, which included electricity charges and the salary of the crew. On the other hand, the expense per km for diesel buses was ₹74 and the revenue ₹35.
