E-buses to soon connect Karnataka cities

BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is all set to kickstart its ambitious inter-city electric bus service by December end. The first bus is expected to be delivered by early next week by Hyderabad-based electric bus manufacturer Olectra Greentech Ltd.

While plans are on to operate the buses under the Union Government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme in at least six routes, the first bus is likely to start running between Bengaluru and Mysuru by end of this month.

A senior KSRTC official told TNIE that the first e-bus is expected to be delivered to the transport corporation by next week and they are planning to start testing it and commence intercity operations on the 150 km Bengaluru-Mysuru route.

The official said the transport corporation has placed an order for 50 electric buses and they are expected to be delivered by the end of December. Each e-bus costs around Rs 1.8 crore and will have 43 push-back seats, individual charging points and AC vents similar to Volvo buses. While the buses will be operated by private operator Olectra under Gross Cost Contract (GCC), KSRTC will pay Rs 55 per km as operational cost.  

“In the initial stage, we will run the buses on routes not crossing 250 km. The electric buses will come with a capacity to cover 250 km in a single charge. Buses will be operated from Bengaluru to places like Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hassan and Chitradurga. Works are in progress to build the needed infrastructure like charging stations on the long routes,’’ the official said.