1,400 new electric buses will be inducted in BMTC by April 2024: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah accused the BJP of criticising its free bus travel service for women and questioned why it did not implement this welfare scheme when it was in power.

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will expand its electric bus fleet to nearly 1,400 by April 2024, Chief Minister Siddaramaih said here on Tuesday as the operator launched 100 electric non-air-conditioned buses. 

The BMTC is leasing 921 of these buses from TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of Tata Motors. In the first batch, it has received 100 buses. 

Siddaramaiah took pride in the fact that all the 921 buses have been manufactured at the Tata Motors plant in Dharwad. 

He used the opportunity to heap praise on the Congress government's free bus travel scheme for women, saying it greatly benefits students and those from poor families. He argued that the revenues of Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) have gone up following the introduction of the scheme. 

"The Shakti scheme has also driven up temple visits, hotel stays, tourist numbers, etc, helping boost our tax revenues," he said without giving details. 

Siddaramaiah said eligible families in Karnataka received Rs 4,000-5,000 each month because of the Congress government's five guarantees and claimed that the Shakti scheme had an approval rating of 81%. 

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the BMTC would also induct 840 diesel buses, taking its fleet to 8,000. He, however, said the corporation needed 10,000 buses to better serve the growing mobility needs of Bengaluru and its catchment areas. 

With 8,000 buses, Bengaluru will dislodge Delhi, which has 7,135 buses. The BMTC currently has around 6,700 buses. 

Reddy said the BMTC ferried nearly 40 lakh people every day as against the Bengaluru metro, whose daily ridership was "just 6.5 lakh even after spending thousands of crores". 

In all, Karnataka's four RTCs will add about 5,000 buses to their fleet and hire around 9,000 people by March 2024. They will also restore the 3,800 bus schedules cancelled during Covid, he added. 

Asim Kumar Mukhopadhyay, CEO and MD of TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd, said the e-buses were equipped with liquid cool batteries, CCTV cameras, panic buttons, ramps for the disabled, Intelligent Transport Systems and real-time GPS tracking. The company has supplied 1,500 e-buses across India, he added.  

'BMTC to save Rs 18/km'

The BMTC will lease 921 e-buses for Rs 41 per km, the lowest in the country, its managing director G Sathyavathi told DH. 

The BMTC will save at least Rs 18/km, according to its Chief Traffic Manager (Operations) Prabhakar Reddi G T. It will spend Rs 60/km on each e-bus (Rs 41 on lease, Rs 14 on conductor and Rs 5 on maintenance), he explained. 

The BMTC spends Rs 78/km on a diesel bus but earns only Rs 66. Volvo buses cost Rs 105/km but earn only Rs 70/km. 

The corporation has called tenders for leasing 320 AC e-buses to replace its ageing fleet of airport-bound Volvo buses, Sathyavathi added. 

Another BMTC official said the 320 buses were expected in about a year. 

New bus breaks down

One of the 100 newly launched buses in the Maharani College underpass towards Mysore Bank Circle around 2 pm but was cleared soon after. 

A BMTC official called the glitch "minor", saying there were still issues with driver training and maintenance. 

While the official said the bus was cleared within 5-6 minutes, a senior executive of TML Smart City Mobility Solutions conceded that the bus was stuck for 45 minutes.