First AC Aapli Bus reaches city; NMC to start service

Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s transport department is set to launch the air-conditioned city bus service. The first lot of the 15 buses procured by Nagpur Smart and Sustainable City Development Corporation Limited (NSSCDCL) has started arriving along with the first electric bus reaching the city on Monday.
“Fares of the AC buses will remain the same like that of diesel-operated Aapli buses,” said municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B.
Currently, the Aapli Bus fare of diesel and electric run buses ranges between Rs 12 and Rs 70. The same fares will be applicable to all the AC buses too, he added.
According to officials from NMC’s transport department, the first AC electric bus of Tata Motors Limited, which is set to deliver 40 buses, arrived in its godown on Kamptee Road.
Besides this, the NMC had also placed an order for an additional 144 air-conditioned electric buses with the Uttar Pradesh-based PMI Electro Mobility Private Limited. The delivery of these e-buses will start soon, said the official.
“If launched, the air-conditioned buses will get a good response as the city’s maximum temperature always hovers over 30 degree Celsius,” said officials.
At present, the NMC has a fleet of 23 electric buses, including six provided by the state government and 17 being part of the 40-electric buses funded by the Central government.
Sources, however, said that with only one charging station in east Nagpur, the NMC is already facing hurdles to ensure operation of the existing fleet of 23 e-buses.
In the coming months, the NMC will replace all diesel buses with electric-run buses. Already, the 267 NMC-owned buses being operated by three red bus operators have outlived their lives.
The replacement of diesel buses with electric buses will also bring down NMC’s expenditure significantly. Currently, the NMC is operating 360 Aapli Buses on over 100 routes. The average earning per bus is around Rs 5,000. The viability gap funding of NMC has touched around Rs 7 crore per month.
As on October 14, the NMC has been paying Rs 74.34 per km to the three operators for plying 172 standard buses. Similarly, it paid Rs 68.27 and Rs 53.10 per km for operating 150 midi and 45 mini buses, besides Rs 47.39 and Rs 66.33 per km for 23 electric buses.