New Delhi, May 13 (Agency) The Delhi Government will add 1,500 electric buses to its fleet of public transport. The approval to induct low-floor electric buses were given by the Transport Department on Friday. The Delhi Transport Corporation Board (DTCB) had already given its approval for the procurement of 921 buses under the Grand Challenge Scheme of Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) which comes under the FAME-II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicle) category and remaining 579 buses under non-FAME-II category.
“For the 579 buses in the non-FAME category, Arvind Kejriwal-led Government will provide a subsidy of INR 262.04 crores at the same level as the FAME-II subsidy,” according to a statement issued by the DTC Board. The buses will be run by Tata Motors which emerged as the most successful bidder for the operation of these buses in Delhi. The Delhi Transport Corporation will soon sign the master concession agreement with the company for the deployment of these buses on Delhi roads. “The Delhi Government will also spend a total of INR 7,606.45 crores on operation, maintenance, and development of the infrastructure related to these buses,” the statement added. Meanwhile, the board also decided to allocate 10 sites of DTC to various service providers for establishing EV charging and battery swapping stations under Delhi EV Policy 2020. These sites are Ambedkar Nagar Depot, Jal Vihar Terminal, Dilshad Garden Terminal, Karawal Nagar Terminal, Shadipur Depot, Mayapuri Depot, Bindpur Terminal, East Vinod Nagar, Punjabi Bagh, and Rohini Depot-I.