NEW DELHI: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on Friday approved a proposal to procure 1,250 Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) compliant, air-conditioned low-floor buses.
The decision was taken in its board meeting which was chaired by Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot.
The new buses would be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as real-time passenger information system, close circuit television (CCTVs) cameras, panic buttons, GPS and other facilities.
Bharat Stage (BS) standards are emission standards that regulate the output of air pollutants from motor vehicles.
On Thursday, The New Indian Express had reported that after almost 10 years, the DTC would get 1,000 buses under its fleet.
It said that the transport department had already finalised the bidder for manufacturing the upcoming fully air-conditioned buses and the city will receive new buses from May next year.
DTC runs 3,762 buses and together with Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), a fleet of 6,601 buses are operational in the city.
In the last two years, 1,681 new buses were added to Delhi’s bus fleet under the cluster scheme.
The induction of the low-floor AC buses will begin after it receives approval of the council of ministers, said the government.
With the induction of these 1,250 buses, the total fleet size in Delhi would reach an all-time high of 7,851 buses, it added.
“Delhi government is committed to augmenting its public transport system while ensuring that we reduce environmental pollution. As another landmark decision to this effect, the DTC board today approved the proposal to engage 1,250 low-floor AC CNG buses, compliant to BS-VI emission norms,” Gahlot said.
First purchase since 2010
Buses under DTC were last purchased during the Sheila Dikshit government in 2010 where about 3,570 buses were procured. As per the State Transport Authority (STA), the life span of the buses is 15 years.
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