Chandigarh authorities request for electric buses
Times of India, 11 Dec '24
Chandigarh is set to add 60 new diesel buses to the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) fleet by next week, as the fabrication of the purchased chassis of all these new buses is in the last stage in Jaipur.
On the other hand, the Chandigarh administration has now made a fresh demand for 428 new electric buses for the city from the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA).
All these 428 electric buses have been requested under the 'PM e-Bus Sewa' scheme.
"As the authority wants to replace all existing diesel buses running in the city and Tricity with electric buses, the demand was raised and a request letter in this regard was sent to the ministry concerned. The letter is under consideration. Out of these 428 electric buses, a request for 100 buses was sent a few months ago, while a fresh demand for 328 more electric buses was sent recently. The matter will soon be discussed between UT and ministry's officers concerned," sources said.
On the other hand, the new 60 diesel buses will replace the existing ones that have completed their lives. Currently, all these existing buses are long-route vehicles and the new buses will also run on long routes to different cities from Chandigarh as per the department's plan.
"This is for sure that all these new 60 buses will run on the long routes, but their exact route plan, locations will be prepared once all these buses reach the city by next week. Their fabrication work is going on in Jaipur as per the prescribed norms, and these are 51-seater buses of non-air-conditioned (AC) category. The work of fabrication is going on under the direct supervision of senior officer of the UT's transport department," sources said.
"Since all these buses are purchased through tender process as per laid down terms and conditions, all chassis of the buses were purchased separately, and then the work of fabrication was allotted. The total cost of these buses is around Rs 220-230 million (US$ 2.5 - 2.7 million). The said cost is for both chassis and fabrication," sources further added.
Currently, the UT administration has a total of 80 electric buses, purchased in two phases through a tender process. All these e-buses have been deployed in Chandigarh.
These e-buses have been witnessing huge footfall, with most running at full capacity on multiple routes.
