Pune: 500 New E-Buses Will Be Inducted Into PMPML’s Fleet
Pune, 9th March 2021: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 6th March inaugurated Baner e-bus depot and inducted 140 e-buses into Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited’s (PMPML) fleet.
A total of 500 e-buses, including 350 from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and 150 from the central government’s FEM-2 scheme, will be inducted into PMPML in the coming days.
According to the vehicle policy of the Central Government and the State Government, electric vehicles will be given priority and the world-class e-depot has been set up at Baner.
After the inauguration ceremony at the hands of the Prime Minister, 30 e-bus services were started on five routes from Monday, 7th March.
In the next phase, 70 buses will be started on 14 routes. The bus operation is planned at the rate of 200 km per bus per day. Five depots namely Baner, Wagholi, Moshi, Charholi and Nigdi will be developed for these 350 buses.
The depot will be able to charge 35 buses at a time. For this 35 AC / DC chargers are installed. It takes about four to four and a half hours to fully charge a bus. It costs Rs 7 to 8 per km. Therefore, the cost of the e-bus is less than that of diesel.
The Central Government and both the Municipal Corporations have given priority to e-buses to reduce pollution in the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority area. The response of passengers towards e-bus is positive. Also, the ticket prices are the same as other buses.
The number of diesel buses will be reduced gradually. Wi-Fi facility will also be provided in the e-bus. The Baner Depot has been set up over two and a half acre land with all facilities, said Dr Chetna Kerure, Joint Managing Director, PMPML.
