Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is planning to carry out the electric buses on road as a 30-day trial. This is the second trial by BMTC first of which goes back to 2014. But this time, BMTC wants to analyze the performance in Bangalore’s notorious traffic junctions. Hyderabad-based Electra Greentech Ltd has deployed one electric bus which is at Majestic. After the clearance from the Regional Transport Office and few other formalities, BMTC will allow the bus to be operated.

“For the first 15 days, the bus will carry no passengers. We will keep weight proportionate to full bus capacity and run it for several kilometers across the city. It would take the flyovers and use the road with many traffic signals. If it performs well, the bus shall be allowed to carry passengers for the next 15 days”, a BMTC official told. Santhosh Babu, director (Information and Technology) at BMTC said, “Since we have zero experience in operating these buses, we want to run them for at least a month and judge the performance and viability of electric bus on our roads. This will also help us draft the tender conditions accordingly”. If everything goes well, BMTC is planning to acquire 300 buses.

In 2014, BMTC has conducted the trial run of e-buses for about two months. However, the plan was dropped citing the cost of each electric bus is thrice of a diesel bus. This time the state government is hopeful of getting INR 1 crore per bus under the Central Government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India (FAME II) program. Last month, Rajasthan ordered 48 AC e-buses and Pune issued a tender for 150 e-buses.

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