Delhi L-G, CM to flag off 500 electric low-floor DTC buses today

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will flag off 500 electric low-floor Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses on December 14, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the officials, this will be the biggest one-time induction in the recent past.

The L-G and the chief minister will flag off 500 electric low-floor DTC buses on Thursday, an official said.

As many as 800 electric buses have been plying on Delhi roads since January 2022. They have covered a distance of more than 42 million kilometres and cut more than 34,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide so far, he said.

With the addition of the new buses, he said, Delhi will have a total of 1,300 electric buses plying on its roads -- the highest in any Indian city.

By 2025, Delhi will have a total of 10,480 buses with electric ones making up 80 per cent of the fleet. This will help cut 4.67 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to the official.

The new buses are disabled-friendly, air conditioned, emit zero smoke and noise, and are equipped with GPS, CCTVs and panic buttons.

"The old low-floor buses are being phased out and the focus is on having sustainable and cleaner modes of transport. By 2025, the old buses will be phased out almost entirely," the official said.