To fight pollution, Delhi government approves 1,000 electric buses

The Delhi Cabinet gave its in-principle approval for the engagement of 1,000 low-floor environment-friendly electric buses in the Capital, a move which came days after the Supreme Court questioned the Kejriwal government over its proposal to procure e-buses and about the time required to set up charging stations for the fleet.

Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet said,"Cabinet approves hiring of consultant to run 1000 electric buses in Delhi. A big step in modernizing Delhi's transport sector and reducing pollution. (sic)"

The transport department will construct bus depots at six locations for these 1,000 electric buses - East Vinod Nagar, Bawana Sector 5, Burari, Rohini Sector 37, Revla Khanpur and Narela. According to the officials, electric power for charging of electric buses and the housing of requisite numbers of charging units shall be the responsibility of the Concessionaire(s), who will arrange the infrastructure at their own cost, in consultation with discoms.

The Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd. (DIMTS) has been asked to submit its report within three months.

The transport department had sought Cabinet's in-principle approval to engage 1,000 pure low floor airconditioned e-buses, in the Gross Cost Model of contracting under the Cluster scheme, so that further process of hiring Project Consultant for the technical detailing and Bid Process Management could be carried out. The department has also been directed to explore the possibility of hydrogen buses as suggested by the Supreme Court.

The Delhi government was the first in India to bring out a Green Budget for 2018-19, identifying 26 short and long-term measures to combat air pollution in Delhi, including electric buses. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in his 2018 budget, had promised to roll out electric buses by April 2019. Presenting the budget, he said,"We will be the only nation besides China to have a fleet of 1,000 electric buses. The move is an important aspect of the 26-point programme and will largely help in reducing air pollution."

Currently, pure electric buses are operating in over 200 cities in 48 countries worldwide but the major share (about 98%) is in China.