Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 29

To give a new dimension to eco-friendly transport system in the city, the UT Administration will soon get a fleet of 80 electric buses.

The Centre had last month sanctioned 80 electric buses for the UT under Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme.

After getting green light from the Centre, the UT Administration has started the process for the procurement of the buses. Under the scheme, the Centre will provide Rs50-lakh subsidy for each bus to the seller.

A senior official of the Transport Department said a fresh tender for the purchase of the buses would be floated next week.

The procurement of the buses will give a major boost to the plan of the UT Administration to replace its entire fleet of ordinary buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) with electric buses.

At present, the CTU has 514 buses — 361 buses run on local or suburban routes and 153 buses run on inter-state routes.

As the buses would not emit any pollution, it would improve the quality of air in the city, added the official.

Last year, when the Centre had refused to finance 40 electric buses, the UT Administration had decided to procure these buses on the basis of revenue sharing. The Administration had floated tenders for the purchase of the 40 electric buses in January, but had to suspend it as the revenue had been hit hard due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The official said the tender already floated for 40 electric buses would be part of the 80 buses sanctioned by the Central Government.

The Department of Heavy Industries had launched the FAME India Scheme in April 2015 to promote adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles in the country.

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