By News18
Kolkata, Jul 3 (PTI) To reduce carbon footprints and introduce a green fleet for public transportation, the West Bengal Transport Department is set to procure around 350 CNG buses in the coming days, a senior official said.
He added that another proposal for acquiring 25 electric buses is also under consideration.
Dismissing reports that the government is planning to phase out electric buses due to high maintenance costs, shorter battery life, and a lack of spare parts, the official told PTI, 鈥淭here is no such plan.鈥 The transport department intends to place equal emphasis on both expanding the CNG fleet and continuing with electric buses, which have significantly contributed to reducing air pollution.
鈥淲hile the process of procuring 350 CNG buses is at various stages, another proposal for the procurement of 25 electric buses is under consideration by the competent authority. We will put equal emphasis on both,鈥 the official added.
Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty could not be reached for comment.
Currently, there are 80 electric buses operating out of various state depots in both the northern and southern regions of the state.
Each bus is equipped with three batteries, each costing Rs 18 lakh. When fully charged, these buses can travel 100鈥110 km.
However, if a battery malfunctions, the bus becomes inoperative.
CNG-run AC buses won鈥檛 be plagued by the battery issue, but there has to be more CNG pumps of the department to cater to such buses.
鈥淲e want to strike a balance between both CNG and electric buses,鈥 the official added. PTI SUS MNB