Chandigarh drops plan to buy electric buses for now

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

In the wake of Covid-19, the UT Administration has suspended the plan to buy electric buses for the time being.

Last year, it had floated a tender for purchasing 40 medium-sized buses to reduce air pollution in the city.

A senior officer of the Transport Department said the procurement had been suspended for the time being due to Covid-19 and the project would be reviewed again in December.

The UT had planned to buy the buses with an aim to reduce air pollution.

A few years ago, the UT had even undertaken a test drive of buses. An electric bus has a life span of 10 years and costs between Rs1.25 crore and Rs1.40 crore. As a long term measure, the UT had planned replacing its entire fleet of diesel-run buses with electric buses in a phased manner.

The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking has over 400 buses to cover nearly 75 routes in the city and nearly half of the buses have nearly completed the operational life.