The Delhi government said the national capital now has the highest number of electric buses operating in any city of the country, adding that over 7,000 CNG buses are plying on the roads. 

“We have rolled out 500 (electric) buses today. These are zero emission buses. We will continue to do such things to make Delhi better,” Saxena told reporters.

Kejriwal thanked Saxena and promised to keep improving the city transport.  

 “I want to congratulate the people of Delhi on this occasion. I also want to thank the LG for taking out time from his busy schedule to grace this occasion. We now have 1,300 electric buses in Delhi. We will continue to strengthen Delhi’s transport system,” the chief minister told reporters.

Later, in a post on X, Saxena said these green buses are provided by the Centre under the FAME-II Scheme for creating a robust and clean public transport infrastructure.

“Of the total allocation of 1,500 buses under this Scheme for Delhi, 921 Busses are being provided at a subsidy of ₹416.82 cr by the Central Govt. For the remaining 579 buses, GNCTD is bearing the subsidy of ₹262.04 cr,” he said in the X post.

Later, addressing a press conference, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the addition of the e-buses to the fleet is a strong step in the fight against pollution. He thanked the Centre for the subsidy but said the running cost of these buses over 12 years will be borne by the Delhi government. 

“As per various reports and manuals, one CNG bus emits 800 gram of carbon dioxide per kilometre. One electric bus saves that much amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere,” Gahlot said.

“The CNG buses of the Delhi government travel a minimum of 200 kilometres per day and they cover approximately 70,000 kilometres in a year. This means that these buses emit around 56 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a year,” he added.

The minister said the newly flagged off buses are 100 per cent electric, with zero smoke emission.

“Keeping the safety of the passengers in mind, these buses are equipped with at least three CCTV cameras; there is also a rear camera to help the driver. Every bus has a panic button on every two seats so that any passenger feeling uncomfortable can press it. This panic button has two functions, one is relaying a CCTV camera at our command centre, so that officers sitting at the centre can see what’s happening in that bus,” Gahlot said.

Additionally, the location and CCTV feed would also reach the Delhi Police once the panic button is pressed. Once this button is pressed, the driver will have to stop the bus and command centre officers would look into the matter, he added.

By the end of 2025, the total number of buses in Delhi will go up to 10,480, with 80 per cent being electric buses, he said. 

“We aim to surpass 8,000 electric buses by the end of 2025. Once the number of electric buses crosses 8,000, Delhi will be included among those select cities worldwide with the highest number of electric buses in operation. The work orders for 6,000 e-buses have already been issued. Approximately 50 to 100 electric buses will be added to the fleet every month,” he shared. 

Gahlot revealed that electrification of all depots in Delhi is underway.

He said there are more than 60 bus depots in Delhi and electrification work is being carried out in all of them. These include 500 electric buses in Rohini, 160 in Hasanpur, and 130 in Wazirpur, and buses will also be included in Subhash Place and BBM depots.

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Published: 16 Dec 2023, 06:01 PM IST