NEW DELHI: The government will procure 1,950 buses and issue fresh tenders for 4,880 more, taking the fleet to about 12,000 on city roads by December 2024, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday.
The Delhi Cabinet gave its nod to the project on Wednesday, said an official statement, adding that the new buses will start coming from August-September this year.
By September 2023, all the buses, including 1,500 electric and 450 CNG AC buses, will be inducted to the fleet, it added. “Earlier the biggest problem in Delhi was lack of buses as they were not procured for many years. Presently, there are more than 7,200 buses in the public fleet of Delhi, the highest ever,” he said.
The government will soon issue tenders to buy 4,880 more buses and by December 2024, 11,910 buses will be running on Delhi roads, he said.
“Delhi’s transport sector will be developed as per international standards by integrating all modes of transport,” the CM said. He asserted that the government is now placing a high priority on public transport in order to give people pleasant transportation options.
“The major issue in Delhi was the lack of new bus purchases over a long period. A large-scale procurement of the buses began few years back, which proves that we have repaired this system. With keeping Delhi’s weather in mind, we are concentrating on buying air-conditioned electric buses,” he added.
He said that the procurement for these buses will end in September of the following year, although deliveries will begin in August of the current year. He added that the government needs to combine and modernise the various modes of transportation, which include the metro and taxis. Five depots — Rohini II, Mayapuri, Nehru Place, Subhash Place, and Banda Bahadur Marg — will be electrified by 2022. The remaining will be completely electrified in 2023.
Timeline of deployment of buses in city
Of the 1,950 buses to be procured, 450 will be low-floor AC CNG buses fully BS VI compliant. As many as 113 of them will arrive between August 2022 and January 2023 and 337 will arrive between February 2023 and March 2023. Of 7,200 buses currently plying on city roads, DTC runs 3,900 buses and the cluster runs 3,300 buses.