The BJP Monday faulted the Delhi government for deciding to procure 1,000 e-buses, claiming the infrastructure to run the battery-operated vehicles was not there in the city.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari attacked the AAP government saying it always accused Modi government of obstructing it from functioning, and still it managed to go for such a large number of e-buses.

"After, four years now Kejriwal government is going to procure 1,000 e-buses, although he always accused Modi government of stopping it from working," Tiwari said in a press conference.

He also alleged "corruption" in procurement of buses.

The AAP dismissed the allegations as "laughable", while giving point wise answers to charges made by the BJP

"BJP is making laughable allegations. Instead of doing desperate press conferences, they should use the CBI and other agencies to put the corrupt behind the bars," said AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj.

BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta claimed there were not enough charging facilities and depots for the e-buses.

"The Delhi government will suffer loss of Rs 80 per km per electric bus which will be Rs 60 lakh per year. For 1,000 buses, the loss will be around Rs 600 crore per year, and Rs 6,000 crore in ten years," claimed Gupta.

Bhardwaj refuted the charge as false. The estimated gap funding per month is approximately Rs 4.1 lakh and per year it will be Rs 50 lakh.

"This is in fact lower than what we spend currently on DTC low floor buses. And this is not a loss but an investment into public transport and the environment of the city," he said.

The government said infrastructure for charging of electric buses within the depot and the housing of requisite numbers of charging units will be responsibility of the concessionaire chosen through open bid. The arrangements to provide power infrastructure at intermediate charging points along bus routes (called as host depots) will also be the responsibility of the concessionaires.

The first set of tenders are expected to be released within a week and the first lot of electric buses are likely to hit the streets before the end of this year, the Delhi government had said in a statement.

The AAP spokesperson said the BJP has realised that despite creating obstacles at every stage of the e-bus project, the Delhi government has succeeded in clearing it. Clearly, BJP has a vested interest in making this project fail, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)