Ending a long wait, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will finally induct 40 electric buses along with 150 Bharat Stage-VI diesel buses on Monday.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is scheduled to unveil the new vehicles in front of the Vidhana Soudha at a ceremony that was delayed by nearly two months due to various reasons, including the model code of conduct placed in view of the MLC elections.
The 40 e-buses are among the 90 medium-sized buses (midibuses) being supplied by the National Thermal Power Corporation-JBM Group joint venture. All the 90 buses were to be delivered by December 15 but supply chain delays held them up, officials say. The buses have been funded by Bengaluru Smart City Limited and will run on feeder routes to provide first- and last-mile connectivity from metro stations.
The 150 BS-VI diesel buses have been supplied by Ashok Leyland, which has received a work order for 565 vehicles from the BMTC. These buses are being purchased with funds promised in the 2017-18 state budget. The procurement was delayed due to an ongoing case in the National Green Tribunal.
The BMTC started receiving the BS-VI chassis in November. As per the schedule, the company has to supply all the 565 buses by the end of February 2022. The BMTC is expected to procure another 78 BS-VI buses, raising their numbers to 643 buses. BS-VI buses are said to be less polluting than BS-IV buses.
Monday's bus induction is the beginning of a long haul for the BMTC which has to phase out 2,715 buses from BS-III. The NGT recently sought an action plan from the BMTC for replacing polluting buses with eco-friendly vehicles.
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Published 26 December 2021, 19:26 IST