NEW DELHI: As the Delhi government gears up for introducing 1,000 electric buses in the national capital by 2020, it is planning to study the European model of electric buses, sources said. Delhi Transport Minister, Kailash Gahlot, who has been busy visiting the manufacturing sites of TATA and Ashok Leyland for procurement of the low floor cluster buses, is scheduled to visit European countries including France and Belgium.
“He is going to visit Europe next week to check the system of e-buses in those places. He will also be accompanied by the Delhi Transport Corporation higher officials including the Commissioner of Transport, Rajeev Verma,” a source told this newspaper, adding that the delegation is likely to travel to London. The tentative dates of the four-day visit are from September 25 to 28. Delhi government has been stressing the need for a green mode of transportation in its efforts to make the city pollution free.
While announcing the government’s seven-plan policy in combating the pollution in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that in next one month, they will also notify the Electric Vehicle Policy. The AAP government in this policy would aim to convert 50 per cent of the public transport to electric. "Over 1,000 electric buses are being purchased. In the future, we must shift towards electric vehicles,"” Kejriwal had said in a statement.
Going electric
Along with procuring 4,000 additional electric buses in the city, the government had announced that 1,000 of them will ply on Delhi roads by April 2020