Transport minister B Sriramulu has oficially inaugurated will Bengaluru’s first electric bus on Thursday at Kengeri depot. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has already received the e-bus built by the Uttar Pradesh-based JBM Auto Limited. Apart from Kengeri, e-buses will be operated from the Yeshwantpur and the KR Puram depots of the BMTC. Each e-bus will have a carrying capacity of 33 passengers.
The buses are being launched by the BMTC in association with Smart City Bengaluru and the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. Officials said that the JBM Auto Limited will dispatch 90 mini-electric buses at a cost of Rs 130 crore as part of the project. After completing RTO formalities, the e-buses will be deployed on city roads. The BMTC will install charging points for the buses at the depots and provide the infrastructure needed to maintain the e-buses at the three depots.