Delhi Govt Picks Up 500 Electric Buses to Counter Rising Pollution
Arvind Kejriwal and his ministry will pay the tab for the electric buses from its Rs 800 crore environment cess.
A week after the Delhi government announced that it would procure e-buses, representatives of a leading automobile manufacturer on Wednesday met Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot and made a presentation on electric vehicles.
The minister, along with department officials, also inspected an e-bus, a Delhi government official said.
The government has fast-paced the procurement process for 500 e-buses.
The decision to buy 500 e-buses was made in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Delhi government has chalked out a "short-term plan" to procure 500 electric buses.
"The process for procurement of the 500 buses has been expedited. Daily meetings are being held to work out the economics of the purchase and available technology to choose the best available and cost-effective buses," the official said.
As per the one-year plan, 500 low-floor, air-conditioned e-buses would be procured. The transporter minister also met officials of the Delhi Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) on the matter.
The government will buy the buses using the environment cess fund of about Rs 800 crore. We still don’t have a timeline as to when the buses will be procured, and made available to the public in the city, but it looks like Kejriwal and Co are finally ready to walk the talk.
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