NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday added 350 new electric buses, taking the DTC feel to 1,650. The numbers make the state with the highest number of e-buses in the country and the 3rd globally.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot flagged off the buses.
These buses will operate on different routes from Sukhdev Vihar, Rohini Sector-37 Depot-II, and Burari Bus Depot-I. All these are low-floor e-buses equipped with GPS, CCTV, panic buttons, and other facilities for passenger safety.
Kejriwal said that 350 more electric buses have been deployed on the roads to ensure the convenience of the people. “Delhi has become the first city in the country with most number of e-buses. These buses will help control pollution in city. Previously, Delhi’s roads had Blue Line buses running on diesel and petrol, which shifted to CNG buses and now electric buses. Our effort is to phase out CNG buses,” he said.
Gehlot addressed a press conference at the Delhi Secretariat and said that 350 electric buses have been deployed on Delhi’s roads.
“In January 2022, the first electric bus was deployed on Delhi’s roads. However, the process of including electric buses started in May 2022. During that period, 150 electric buses were deployed on Delhi’s roads simultaneously. Then, in August 2022, 97 electric buses were included, in January 2023, 50 buses were included, in May 2023, 100 buses were included, in September 2023, 400 buses were included, and in December 2023, 500 e-buses were included in the fleet,” he said.
He added that for the first time, 300 e-buses have been included in DIMTS, while 50 buses are included in the DTC. Earlier, all e-buses were included in the controlled depots of DTC.
The Transport Minister added that the pollution would reduce with more electric buses on roads. From 2022 until now, 1,300 electric buses have been running on Delhi’s roads, covering a distance of 5.8 crore kilometres and the emission of 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide has been reduced. If there were no electric buses, Delhi’s environment would have emitted 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Talking to reporters after the flag-off Saxena said, “These buses will contribute in a huge way in combating pollution. I am hopeful that we will be able to stop the pollution with these steps.”