Aurangabad, Aug 23:
The Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL) has today participated in a national-level training workshop on procurement of electric buses organised by public transport planning and implementation agencies under the banner of the UK Pact. The workshop was held online.
It may be noted that ASCDCL is operating a fleet of 100 diesel-powered Smart City buses. However, to sustain environment development, through consultation with the state's environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) commissioner and ASCDCL chief executive officer A K Pandey decided upon procuring electric buses as part of the city bus service.
The workshop was organised by UK Pact, a UK government-funded programme, in association with RTI International, Urban Mass Transit Company Ltd, Green Tree and Kakinada Smart City to help cities in the procurement of electric buses. The workshop provided information on the different models used by different cities for the procurement and operation of electric buses. The workshop included guidance on costs involved, charging station setup, engagement with different agencies and tender process, stated the release issued by ASCDCL.
The chief operations manager (Smart City Buses) Ram Paunikar, deputy manager Siddharth Bansod and project associate Rushikesh Ingle participated in the workshop. It may be noted that Aurangabad city has also signed up for the Race To Zero, an international campaign aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Accordingly, the procurement of electric buses is in line with that commitment.