NMMT takes delivery of first electric bus, 30 such buses to start plying in Navi Mumbai soon
The drivers are already undergoing training and the buses are expected to start plying on city roads from next month (Picture Courtesy: Arpan Mitra)
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) took delivery of its first mini-electric bus at Turbhe depot last week.
The vehicle is the first of 30 buses that the NMMT has procured at a cost of Rs 42.18 crore. The buses were purchased under the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric & Hybrid vehicles (FAME) scheme of the central government.
The transport body is expected to receive the remaining 29 buses before the end of this month, well before the poll code of conduct for the upcoming Assembly elections comes into effect.
Meanwhile, the central government has already sanctioned an additional 100 electric buses for NMMT.
According to Shirish Aradwad, general manager, NMMT, once the remaining buses arrive, they will be sent to the RTO for the necessary formalities.
The drivers are already undergoing training and the buses are expected to start plying on Navi Mumbai roads from next month.
The JBM Solaris buses can carry 35 passengers. The all-electric buses can cover a distance of 225 km per charge and take around one to three hours to fully charge.
NMMT will reportedly spend an additional Rs 3.5 crore on setting up 18 battery charging stations in the city. At least two charging stations will be set up at Turbhe depot, while others will come up Kopar Khairane, Vashi, Airoli and CBD Belapur depots.
Since the buses have been procured under the FAME scheme, NMMT will receive a 60 percent subsidy from the centre for the buses and 10 percent subsidy for the cost incurred on building charging stations.
The central government introduced the FAME scheme to curb pollution by increasing the adoption of electric vehicles.
