Old fleet reaching end of lifespan, Delhi govt orders expedited procurement of electric buses

The Delhi government will soon start phasing out overage CNG buses as part of its plan to replace them with electric buses in the next few months, officials said on Monday.

Transport Minister Pankaj Singh held a high-level meeting with top department officials and asked them to expedite procurement of 1,000 electric buses by March end, they said.

"As of now, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) fleet has 2,400 CNG buses and 1,700 electric buses. The transport minister held a meeting regarding the old buses, which are about to reach the end of life," a senior department official said.

The department is working on the induction of 1,000 electric buses by March end, he added.

After taking charge as transport minister last month, Singh had said 50 per cent of the DTC's fleet of CNG buses had been phased out and the remainder would be out of service in the next few months.

Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa earlier said that nearly 90 per cent of CNG buses in Delhi would be phased out by December and replaced by electric buses as part of the government's push towards cleaner and more sustainable public transport.

The old fleet of DTC's low-floor buses was purchased during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. These buses had a life span of 12 years or 7.5 lakh kilometres, whichever was achieved earlier.

However, due to slow procurement, the Delhi government in 2021 extended their service period to 15 years, which will be reached on March 31, the officials said.

According to official estimates, Delhi requires around 11,000 public buses to meet the needs of the growing number of commuters.

Singh had earlier said the city would have 11,000 buses in the next one-and-a-half years.

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