7 months ago
2
Although the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) electrical buses brought a caller alteration successful the nationalist transport scenery successful the State, reducing the c footprint connected metropolis roads and wooing backmost a conception of passengers who deserted the nationalist transport system, the corp has nary plans to instrumentality guardant the momentum provided by them.
In reply to a question successful the Assembly, Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar made it wide that the KSRTC has nary plans to beforehand electrical buses for the clip being owed to operational reasons.
The displacement to fossil fuel-powered buses began aft Mr. Ganesh Kumar took complaint of the Transport section during the fag extremity of 2023. Since then, the KSRTC has placed orders for procuring a full of 269 diesel buses, including 237 buses for the KSRTC and 32 buses for the precocious formed KSRTC-SWIFT, a caller ineligible entity formed to tally long-distance and electrical buses. Of this, 140 buses were delivered, including 111 buses for the KSRTC and 29 buses for the KSRTC-SWIFT. Of this, 121 buses were pressed into work aft completing the formalities.
Low operational cost
Although its operational outgo is precise debased compared to diesel buses, the KSRTC is against the thought of much electrical buses arsenic it requires dense superior expenditure for procurement. As per the latest figures released by the KSRTC to enactment its claims, electrical buses necessitate an operational outgo of ₹9.07 per km, of which ₹6.89 is for energy charges with 0.76 kilowatt mean depletion per km.
On the different hand, a nine-metre Eicher diesel autobus costs ₹17.32 per km with the autobus having 5.42 km mileage per litre diesel. In the lawsuit of superior investment, a nine-metre non-AC electrical autobus costs ₹92.43 lakh arsenic per the aged rate, portion nine-metre non-AC Eicher BSVI autobus costs ₹27.72 lakh.
Maintenance cost
The Minister continues to mention the three-times higher outgo required for the procurement of the electrical buses arsenic the main origin for the promotion of diesel buses, on with the disbursal required for mounting up electrical charging sub-stations and yearly attraction outgo of the electrical buses aft the two-year warranty period. However, nary yearly attraction outgo of the diesel buses were provided successful the Assembly.
The precarious fiscal concern of the corp is cited by the Minister for switching to diesel buses.
The KSRTC-SWIFT has a full of 165 electrical buses. Of this, 50 nine-metre non-AC electrical buses were funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), and 113 nine-metre AC electrical buses were made disposable nether the Smart City project. Apart from this, 2 unfastened double-decker electrical buses were procured precocious by the corporation.
After taking implicit the reins of the Transport department, tickets that were priced astatine an affordable complaint of ₹10 successful the electrical buses were revised and accrued connected astir of the routes. During the word of erstwhile Transport Minister Antony Raju, the KSRTC had been maintaining that electrical buses person an operational outgo of conscionable ₹4.6 per km, against the ₹26.4 for diesel buses.
