Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday flagged off 50 electric buses at Raj Ghat Depot, saying 80 per cent of Delhi's bus fleet will run on electric by 2025.
He asserted that acquisition of e-buses will go a long way in reducing pollution in the national capital. Sharing a roadmap for procurement of electric buses, he said the government will be buying 1,500 such buses in 2023 and by 2025, 6,380 electric buses will be procured. Speaking on the occasion, Delhi CM said that after the addition of these 50 new e-buses, the fleet is now has a total of 300 e-buses.
Currently, around 7, 379 e-buses is plying on the roads of the national capital, which is the highest ever number in the state. “We are taking over 100 DMRC electric buses and will ply them on metro’s feeder routes ourselves from now on. First phase of induction completed with these 300 electric buses, now under phase two, 1500 more e-buses will be inducted by December 2023,” he said. “Delhi will have a total of 10,480 buses by 2025, of which 8,280 will be electric buses, which is 80 percent of the total bus fleet. 56 bus depots are being electrified, three have been done, 17 depots will be electrified by June 2023 and 36 depots by December 2023,” Kejirwal said. On this occasion, Delhi’s Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said this is a great start to the year 2023.
With the induction of 50 new Low floor Electric buses today, Delhi has now completed the 1st phase of on boarding a total of 300 zero pollution Electric buses. Informing about the features of the new e-buses, a senior transport department official said that these buses are accessible- Fully differently abled- AC Low Floor Buses, affordable- Free ticket for women, passes, sustainable- CNG/Electric- Zero smoke, zero noise- fully BS VI Compliant, Smart- All buses GPS Enabled- Digital ticketing, Contactless ticketing, and Safe- features like CCTV, Panic Buttons and Hooters.