On January 17, 2022, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the first electric bus of the Delhi Transport Corporation. The E – buses are to run on 27 – km long route. These buses were manufactured by the JBM Auto Limited.

About the buses

These electric buses are low floor buses. They are fully air conditioned. These buses were acquired under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and electric Vehicles in India, that is, FAME – II. The first fleet of 300 buses is ready. First a few electric buses are to run from Pragati Maidan to IP Depot. It is a 27 – km long route. It will cover places like ITO, Safdarjung and Ashram on its way. This is a prototype. This is being flagged off to check how long the batteries in the bus last. It will also check for technical problems. After this test run, the rest of the buses in the fleet will be added.

Target

The Delhi Government has planned to release fifty more electric buses by February 2022. The target is to add fifty electric buses per month. In the pipeline set earlier, the Delhi Government will launch 2,300 electric buses. Of these, 1,300 are to be procured by the DTC. The rest of the thousand is to operate under the cluster scheme.

Charging stations

The Delhi Government is to install charging stations in the bus depots. The charging stations are to be built in phased manner.