E-buses save UT diesel worth Rs 20 crore in 2 years

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 19

The UT Transport Department has saved on nearly 25.28 lakh litres of diesel worth Rs 20.80 crore in two and a half years by plying electric buses on local routes. Procured in November 2021, 80 electric buses are in service in the tricity at present.

An official of the department said the electric buses had covered 1.26 crore km till August 16 on intra-city routes, thus saving over 25.28 lakh litres of diesel besides preserving environment. These buses have helped prevent 6674.91 tonne of CO2 emission.

100 more to be bought this year

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In order to provide eco-friendly transportation in the city, the department will procure 100 more e-buses this year. The administration has plans to replace the entire fleet of 350 diesel buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking, running both on local as well as suburban routes, with electric ones by 2027-28.

He said the e-bus fleet of the department included vehicles of Ashok Leyland and Eicher. In order to provide eco-friendly transportation in the city, the department plans to procure 100 more e-buses this year.

The administration has plans to replace the entire fleet of 350 diesel buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), running both on local as well as suburban routes, with electric ones by 2027-28.

Each bus covers a distance of nearly 130 km on a single charge. It takes nearly two hours to fully charge a vehicle. With a seating capacity of 36, a bus can carry a maximum of 54 people at a time. On an average, each bus covers 200-300 km a day.

The State-Level Steering Committee (SLSC) has decided to replace 100 diesel buses with e-vehicles sanctioned by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to Chandigarh under the Centre-sponsored PM e-Bus Sewa Scheme.The ministry will be requested to allocate 80 more buses to the city under this scheme.

Apart from public transport, the share of private electric vehicles (EVs) is also increasing. Since the implementation of the EV Policy in September 2022, as many as 3,281 electric two-wheelers and 1,785 four-wheelers have been registered in the city till July 15.

According to the data provided by the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA), 352 electric two-wheelers and 114 four-wheelers were registered from September to December in 2022. The highest number of 2,103 electric two-wheelers and 1,013 four-wheelers had been registered in 2023 and 826 two-wheelers and 658 four-wheelers till July 15 this year in the city.

Eight public charging stations have been made functional in the city. According to the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), nearly 20 more charging stations will be made operational by September 15.

From September 2023 to January 2024, the city has been ahead in terms of EV adoption across the country. As many as 578 EVs were registered in September 2023 and the adoption rate was 14.9%. With 598 new EVs, adoption rate was 14.1% in October, 13.9% in November and 20.48% in December. In January 2024, 562 EVs were sold and the adoption rate remained 15.66%.