One Of The Most Polluted City In The World, Gurugram To Soon Get 50 Electric Buses
Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited GMCBL will soon be inducting 50 electric buses in its fleet. The 50 approved e-buses will be added to the Gurugram&rsquos bus fleet in another six months time. They will work across 5 different routes in the city which are still to be decided.
Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) will soon be inducting 50 electric buses in its fleet. The update comes after the centre recently responded to GMCBL¡¯s proposal of procuring a total of 100 electric buses. The ministry cleared 50 electric buses in the first go for Gurugram, making it the first city in Haryana, to get such an approval under the FAME-India scheme. It's a step in the right direction given that Gurugram was the most polluted city in the world in March this year.
The 50 approved e-buses will be added to the Gurugram¡¯s bus fleet in another six months time, as per a GMCBL official cited in a TOI report. GMCBL is anticipated to issue the tender for procuring these electric buses once it receives the funds from the centre. They will work across 5 different routes in the city which are still to be decided. The operations of the e-buses will be managed at a depot in Sector 48.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
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For this, the electric charging stations will be installed at the depot, in addition to two other locations in the city. TOI cites that the cost of the operation of these electric buses will be borne by both the centre and GMCBL in a 40:60 ratio.
The 50 e-buses will add to the list of low-emission vehicles that operate within the city. At present, GMCBL runs CNG buses across routes which it eventually plans to expand to a 500 count in total. With the CNG fleet strong, the next upgrade would be to focus on such electric buses, as the required charging network increases correspondingly.
The confirmation from the centre comes after an inter-ministerial committee for EVs sanctioned a total of 5,645 electric buses for intracity operations in 65 cities of India. The idea is to lower the vehicular emission generated by the various state transport mediums for a cleaner air and lower the country¡¯s dependence on oil imports in the process.
