Namma Bengaluru gets India's first Electric bus for public transport

Bangalore, Feb 28: Taking a step towards making Bangalore a pollution-free and

garden city again, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) introduced the country's first electric zero-emission bus in the city on Thursday.

The bus was launched at the Shantinagar bus depot by Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. For now, it will run on a trial basis for the next three months. The charging point for the bus is at the Volvo depot at Majestic. BESCOM has agreed to bear the additional amount during the trial period.

During trial, it will operate along various routes, one of them being Majestic to Kadugodi. Plans are also afoot to run the bus along the airport routes.

"We will study whether the bus is economical and if it can function efficiently in the city. When the battery is fully charged (six hours), the bus can run for about 250 km, which is ideal for BMTC. However, this needs to be tested. We also need to see how it fares on various roads in the city and which routes are best suited to operate the bus," said BMTC managing director Anjum Parvez.

"The bus costs about 2.7 crore and this is expensive. But this is one bus in the entire country. Once the demand for the bus goes up and more people express interest in purchasing it, the rates are likely to come down. Moreover, the research and development wings of various bus manufacturers are working on this and it is some only time before the initial cost of the bus is reduced," Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said.

What makes it special

Absolutely zero emission

No oil required

Runs for 250 km with 6 hours of charging

CCTV cameras installed inside

Can be charged through solar energy

OneIndia News