Delhi has 2nd-largest electric bus fleet: Ministry data

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New Delhi, July 25

The Capital has the second largest number of electric buses in the country after Maharashtra, according to the data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Thursday.

Maharashtra has a total of 2,111 electric buses, while Delhi is not far with 2,011 buses and Karnataka has 1,195 electric buses, followed by Gujarat at 894 and Uttar Pradesh at 758 as of July 19.

The data included the class of vehicles — buses, omnibuses and educational institution buses.

According to the data released by the ministry, there are currently 8,938 electric buses and 205 ‘strong hybrid’ buses in operation across the country. The details given are for digitised vehicle records as per centralised Vahan 4, while, data for Telangana and Lakshadweep were not provided as they are not in centralised Vahan 4.

The data was released in the Lok Sabha in reply to a question on the number of electric buses plying on the roads according to the states.

Meanwhile, Karnataka has the maximum number of hybrid electric buses in the country at 84, followed by 34 in West Bengal.

The data comes amid significant changes in the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing landscape. Currently, the Ministry of Heavy Industries is implementing the Electric Mobility Production Scheme, which provides incentives for manufacturing electric vehicles. This scheme is set to conclude on July 31, after which the FAME-III (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme will commence.

FAME-II, the preceding edition, was aimed at generating demand for electric vehicles by supporting 7,000 e-buses, 5,00,000 e-three-wheelers, 55,000 electric cars and one million e-two-wheelers.

Electric buses are zero-emission vehicles that do not emit any pollutant. In contrast, hybrid buses use an internal combustion engine that relies on non-renewable energy sources like petrol and diesel, along with an electric battery.