Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) in Maharashtra plans to replace its public transport buses with those powered by electricity in a phased manner, an official said.
The civic body runs a fleet of more than 300 public transport buses in the city, adjoining Mumbai, and has so far introduced 11 e-buses, including a few air-conditioned ones.
Vilas Joshi, chairman of the Thane Municipal Corporation Transport Services, said all their buses running on diesel or compressed natural gas (CNG) will be gradually replaced with eco-friendly electric buses.
The civic body also plans to introduce double-decker e-buses, which can be operated along the Ghodbunder Road that has seen rapid development over the past few years, he said.
Thane Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said electric buses require less maintenance and it is cheaper to operate such vehicles than the ones running on fossil fuels.
If properly managed, the transport services can be self-sustainable and even generate revenue for the corporation, he said. We are in the process of improving the earning per km from the civic buses, said the commissioner.