BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has planned to introduce 921 more electric bus in the next year which will be supplied by Tata Motors at subsidised rates.
Tata Smart City Mobility Solutions has signed an agreement to supply 921 electric buses to BMTC. The buses will be 12 metres long and will have a low floor, which will be convenient for passengers to board and disembark. The buses will also be eco-friendly.
There are already 390 electric buses running in the city at a running cost varying from Rs 48 to Rs 51 per kilometre. As per the agreement with Tata Motors, the cost per kilometre has been fixed at Rs 41. The goal is to convert at least half of the BMTC’s diesel buses to electric vehicles. Minister of Transport Department B Sriramulu has expressed happiness over BMTC signing the agreement with Tata Motors.
“The mission of the BMTC is to replace 50 per cent of diesel buses with electric buses. We have already introduced more than 300 EV buses under the gross cost contract. In the third phase, we signed an agreement for 921 EV buses. The specialty of these buses is they are all low floor as it is convenient for passengers. We have given them three months to start introducing the electric buses, and in another six months all the 921 buses will be running”, said Suryasen, IT director, BMTC.