NEW DELHI: 40 percent, or almost 4,500, of the 11,300 electric buses approved in the current phase of the PM E-Drive scheme are scheduled to be delivered to Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka.
In order to improve urban transport in major cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Surat, the Government of India has allotted 2,000 buses to Hyderabad, 2,800 to Delhi, 1,000 to Ahmedabad, and 600 to Surat. H.D. Kumaraswamy, Minister of Heavy Industries and Steel, made the announcement.
“From Bengaluru to Delhi, cities are actively embracing electric buses to make public transport cleaner, smarter, and more efficient,” Kumaraswamy said
With states like Telangana, Karnataka, Delhi, and Gujarat playing a significant role in determining the direction of India’s transportation system, Kumaraswamy underlined the scheme’s emphasis on “timely delivery, operational readiness, and strategic partnerships with innovation and environmental consciousness,” underscoring its potential to successfully decarbonise mass urban transportation.
The PM E-Drive initiative intends to install 14,028 electric buses over the course of two years, from April 2024 to March 2026, at a total cost of ₹10,900 crore. This plan is one of the biggest national initiatives to electrify public transport globally.
