Mumbai to get 1,900 fully electric buses to add to its EV public transport fleet
Mumbai’s BEST public transport service has ordered purchase of 1,900 fully electric buses to add to its fleet in an attempt to phase out its old buses which are running on fossil fuel. Aaditya Thackeray, Environment Minister of the state, took to Twitter to announce the decision to issue a tender notice on this.
The 1,900 fully electric buses will join 386 other electric buses already plying on the roads of Mumbai. With a fleet of over 2,000 electric buses, Mumbai could soon boast to have the largest EV public transport fleet in India.
The Maharashtra government is also planning to expand its EV fleet for public transport to other parts of the state soon. Aaditya Thackeray wrote, “Very happy to hear that @myBESTBus has put out tender notice for 1900 fully electric buses. Currently, Mumbai has 386 electric buses. The @MahaEnvCC is also assisting other cities in Maharashtra to increase their bus fleets with help of policies of GoI & GoM.”
As part of its electric vehicle policy, the state government aims 15 per cent of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s (MSRTC) existing bus fleet to switch to electric. It also aims to put at least 25 per cent of the urban fleet operated by the fleet aggregators like e-commerce companies, deliveries, logistics players as electric vehicles by 2025.
Earlier last month, Thackeray had said, “The Govt of Maharashtra is keen to push electric mobility on a large scale, seeing it as an opportunity to help our urban agglomerates and districts Race to Zero in carbon emissions from the transport sector.”
The Maharashtra state government has already announced incentives to boost the adoption of electric vehicles besides aiming to be India’s top EV hub. The government has invested ₹930 crore towards its EV policy aiming 10 per cent of all new vehicle registrations by March 2025.
The government also plans to develop 2,375 public and semi-public charging stations across seven major cities in the state and four national highways. Earlier in August, Thackeray inaugurated an EV enabled parking lot at the Koninoor building in Mumbai.
News Credit: Auto Hindustantimes
