In a big push to combat the deteriorating air quality in the national capital, the Delhi Cabinet has now approved the procurement of 1,000 low-floor electric buses.
“This is the largest such commitment so far by any Indian city and for any city outside of China,” according to a Delhi government statement in PTI.
Creating sufficient capacity in the public transport system is the only way to reduce air pollution in Delhi and bring down the number of vehicles on the roads of the national capital to reduce congestion, the statement said.
The cabinet gave its approval to allow the transport department to ask the prospective bidders to bring the buses with CCTV, Automatic Vehicle Tracking System (AVTS), panic buttons and panic alarms, as per the specification finalized by the government.
These 1,000 low-floor electric buses will be parked and charged overnight at six depots called parent depots.
Infrastructure for charging of electric buses within the depot and the housing appropriate number of charging units will be the responsibility of the concessionaire.
The arrangements to provide power infrastructure at intermediate charging points along bus routes (called as host depots) will also be the responsibility of the concessionaires.
The cabinet has decided that subsidy and power infrastructure up to parent depots, estimated to be ₹80 million, will be funded through the utilization of the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) funds, presently a corpus of approximately ₹110 million, subject to directions and orders of the Supreme Court.
Reference- Mercom India, PTI