The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will be formally inducting the newly procured 26 electric buses (e-buses) in its fleet on Friday. The buses were procured under the central government's FAME India scheme last month. These buses will be inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a flagging-off ceremony that may take place at Murli Deora Chowk, Nariman Point.
Presently, there are 72 buses in the BEST fleet, among which 66 are wet-leased and the remaining six buses are owned by the undertaking. BEST has also procured these 26 new buses from Tata Motors under wet-lease.
On Thursday, at the BEST committee meeting, management officials and committee members also stated that by March 2022 the undertaking aims to increase the number of e-buses in its fleet to 340.
"E-buses are the future. By the next two years, this will also help the undertaking to control its expenditures as prices of fuel are increasing day by day" Ravi Raja, senior Congress corporator and BEST committee member told FPJ.
A senior official the undertaking informed this buses will be presently used in medium routes and after the full-scale resumption of local trains, some of these buses will be pressed on short feeder routes.
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