Lieutenant Governor of Delhi V. K. Saxena, along with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, flagged off 350 new electric buses in Delhi on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. With this, the number of electric buses in the DTC fleet has risen to 1650. “Today, we are dedicating 350 electric buses to the people of Delhi. This brings our e-bus fleet to a record 1650,” Kejriwal said in a post on X (formally Twitter).Following the event, Delhi’s L.G. VK Saxena interacted with the media and said, “These buses will contribute hugely to combating pollution. I am hopeful that we will be able to stop the air pollution in Delhi with these steps.”
The Delhi CM said that with the launch of these 350 buses, Delhi has achieved the distinction of being the first city in the country to operate such a large fleet of electric buses.
“Today, 350 buses have been flagged off, and now there are 1650 electric buses plying on the roads. Delhi is the first city in the country to have the maximum number of electric buses. This will definitely control pollution. Our effort is to phase out CNG buses,” said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
According to an official connected with the Transport Ministry, the old buses are being phased out and electric ones are being inducted. In November last year, 500 electric buses were added to the fleet, taking the number of such buses in the national capital to 1300, and today, 350 more such buses were introduced in the DTC fleet, taking the total number of electric buses to 1650.
Earlier In 2021, the Delhi government decided to only procure electric buses. It seeks to increase the strength of its fleet to 11,000 and to ensure that 80 percent of all public buses are electric by 2025–26 as part of plans to cut down pollution levels.
