Assam is the latest in the list of states that will be deploying electric buses for their state transport needs. Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has now confirmed the move to use 15 electric buses in the near future, in an effort to reduce vehicular emissions in the state.
The decision comes as a part of the Indian government's FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles) scheme. "We have got 15 electric buses. It's a central government's initiative. The buses will ply on the roads after a trial run," Chief Engineer Balidan Das told ANI.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
Also read:?Electric Vehicles May Soon Make Up 40% Of Cab Aggregator Fleets
The mentioned trial runs will begin from June 22. Each of the electric buses appointed will be having a passenger capacity of 31, and will be making five to six trips on a daily basis. ASTC has decided to run these electric buses on the Kachari-Kamakhya route, covering a distance of 6.4 kilometres. A few of these, however, will ply on two different routes from ISBT and Paltan Bazar, covering 25 kilometres and 38 kilometres respectively.
"Buses will be operational likely within this month, they will be emission free. The phase operation will start from Kamakhya temple," Anand Prakash Tiwari, Managing Director (MD) was quoted as saying.
The central government had recently instructed the state transport corporations to send in their proposals for the deployment of electric buses. In its biggest ever push for electric vehicle to date, the centre has planned to appoint a total of 5000 electric buses across the country and will be taking in bids for the tender for the same.