In a move to provide relief to commuters, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off 500 electric buses on Thursday, taking the number of such buses in the national capital to 1,300. With this, Delhi has the highest number of electric buses plying on its roads in the country.

 "We have rolled out 500 (electric) buses today. These are zero emission buses. We will continue to do such things to make Delhi better," Saxena told reporters.  Kejriwal in his turn thanked Saxena and promised to keep improving the city transport.

 "I want to congratulate the people of Delhi on this occasion. I also want to thank the LG for taking out time from his busy schedule to grace this occasion. We now have 1300 electric buses in Delhi. We will continue to strengthen Delhi's transport system," he told reporters.

 In a post on X, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, "Congrats Delhi!!! We're celebrating another huge milestone today! Flagged off 500 new E-buses along with Hon'ble CM @ArvindKejriwal and Hon'ble @LtGovDelhi. Success is never overnight, it is a guaranteed result of Consistency! We are yet again leading the way with a record 1300 e-buses."

 Later, addressing a press conference, the minister said the addition of the buses is a strong step in the fight against pollution.  "In winters, pollution levels go up. One CNG bus emits 800 gram of carbon dioxide per kilometre. One electric bus saves that much amount of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere," he said.

 Before the Thursday addition, 800 electric buses had been plying on Delhi roads since January 2022.   These buses have covered a distance of more than 42 million kilometres and cut more than 34,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide so far, the minister said.

 By 2025, Delhi will have a total of 10,480 buses with electric ones making up 80 per cent of the fleet. This will help cut 4.67 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, according to the minister.   The new buses are air-conditioned, comfortable, and equipped with CCTV cameras and panic buttons.

 "If you do not feel comfortable while travelling, you can press the panic button and immediately the live feed to the command and control centre will start.

The feed will also be accessible to Delhi Police that will be able to step in," he said.

The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying with the help of the Central Government, Delhi has got the unique gift of 500 electric buses. “This will make it easier to fight against pollution in Delhi and will give life to Delhi's dying public transport system,” said Bidhuri, adding that the AAP government should rationalize the routes properly as there are a number of routes where less number of buses are plying making life hell for the daily commuters.