Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 21 : Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will be the official transport partner for the G20 meetings in Mumbai which started on Sunday and will conclude on May 23.
BEST has deployed its newest premium electric buses for the event, which is fitting given that the delegates belong to the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group, said officials.
Speaking about this, Lokesh Chandra, GM, BEST said, "It is a proud moment for BEST to become the first City Transport Utility in India to be official partner for transportation for G20 delegates. We thank the Government of India and the Maharashtra government for giving us this opportunity to ferry the G20 delegates."
"We will ensure comfortable and seamless mobility for them with our premium electric buses. We also hope that G20 delegates travelling in these buses will inspire Mumbaikars to try this service instead of using their cars," he added.
The luxury electric AC buses ferrying the delegates are part of an app-based premium service launched by BEST recently. They ply along multiple routes in the city like Thane - BKC, and Kharghar -Airport, serving both office and airport travellers.
Their live location can be tracked on the Chalo App Passengers can also reserve a seat on the bus using the app with flexible rescheduling and cancelling options. Currently, the Premium bus service has over 7,000 daily passengers.
BEST is confident that the number will continue to increase given the convenience and comfort of the service. BEST is currently operating the largest fleet of electric buses in India with 464 buses including 56 premium buses. The BEST fleet will become 50% electric by the end of this year and by 2026 Mumbai City will have a 100% electric bus fleet with 10,000 buses.
These buses have been procured as a part of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) of the Ministry of Environment, Government of India. Once operational, this will help reduce 6.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions and save 6000 million tonnes of fossil fuel.
BEST stands to earn one carbon credit for every metric tonne of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. BEST has created a roadmap to monetise these carbon credits with an estimated revenue of Rs500 crores over a period of 10 years, said officials.
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