6 months ago
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The State authorities has approved the procurement of 900 diesel buses, which volition beryllium added to the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation’s (APSRTC) fleet by December, 2025. The State-run proscription has been facing an acute shortage of buses, starring to overcrowding crossed respective routes successful the State, realising the urgent request the Corporation had sought support from the authorities to procure diesel buses connected a impermanent basis.
The authorities has agreed successful rule to the connection and the caller additions volition see some owned and hired buses, said the corp officials.
Meanwhile, the APSRTC is besides preparing to induct 1,050 electrical buses implicit the adjacent 4 months. These buses volition run nether the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model, with CSL (Convergence Energy Services Limited), a government-owned vigor work institution nether Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), identified arsenic the operating firm.
The officials are hopeful that a operation of impermanent diesel buses and the upcoming electrical vehicles volition assistance easiness the existent rider load crossed the State.
According to sources, the elder officials successful the Public Transport Department request contiguous fleet expansion, but the process has slowed down owing to the government’s determination to induct lone electrical vehicles. The officials concede that the accomplishment of electrical buses volition instrumentality clip owed to the lack of indispensable charging infrastructure and the agelong procurement rhythm involved.
Under the GCC model, the ownership, cognition and attraction of electrical buses are handled by a backstage operator, portion transport corporations similar the APSRTC wage the relation a fixed magnitude for moving the buses. The determination connected implementation of the GCC exemplary has reportedly not gone down good with the Public Transport Department Employees Union, which has flagged fears of occupation security.
“We are not opposed to induction of electrical buses successful the RTC fleet. All we are asking for is that the authorities should acquisition these e-vehicles and support them engaging the APSRTC unit and employees,” said the union’s State president P. Damodara Rao.
The State government’s Electric Vehicle/E-Mobility Policy (also called the Sustainable Electric Mobility Policy 4.0- 2024-29) aims to determination the State’s transport assemblage toward battery-operated electrical vehicles and chopped down dependence connected interior combustion engines. Under this policy, State’s people is to execute 100% electrification of the fleet of APSRTC arsenic portion of the nationalist transport transformation.
