KSRTC inducts country's first bio-diesel buses; 25 Scania vehicles flagged off

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) inducted the country’s first bio-diesel buses into its fleet on Saturday.

Speaking after flagging off 25 luxury multi-axle Scania buses at the KSRTC depot here, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said bio-diesel was cheaper than diesel and was eco-friendly.

Rajender Kumar Kataria, Managing Director, KSRTC said the emission levels of bio-diesel buses were 60 to 70% lesser than diesel buses, with mileage and engine efficiency being unaffected.

“The bus manufacturer Scania was given the contract to provide 25 diesel buses. But we decided to procure retrofitted bio-diesel buses, instead of diesel ones, after the trial. The retrofitted buses can be run on diesel or a mix of bio-diesel and diesel, without any engine modifications,” Kataria said.

He said a company from Telangana will supply bio-diesel for the buses. “There are a few producers of bio-diesel at present. The production will, for sure, increase with the increase in demand.”

The 25 new buses will be deployed on the Bengaluru-Kundapur, Bengaluru-Bidar, Bengaluru-Tirupati and Bengaluru-Chennai routes, with no changes in the prices.

“All high-end buses to be procured in the future will be retrofitted with bio-diesel kits. The KSRTC will run the existing fleet of ordinary diesel buses on a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel, without any engine modification, to make them eco-friendly,” Kataria said.