Kolkata to get 100 electric buses soon

Kolkata will get 100 electric buses from the Central government soon as part of efforts to promote such vehicles under the FAME 2 scheme in order to cut carbon emission and reduce the country’s petroleum import bill, a Union minister said here on Thursday.

“Kolkata has placed a demand for 100 electric buses. If the West Bengal government demands more, we are game. The delivery of buses will start soon,” minister for heavy industries and public enterprises Arjun Ram Meghwal told a media conference.

He said the Centre was ready to install the infrastructure if the state government wants electric charging points on a particular route.

Under the FAME-II Scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India), the Centre has already earmarked a sum of Rs 3,545 crore as inventive for giving 5,595 electric buses to 64 cities, intercity services and for provising last mile connectivity to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

Meghwal said the state government should reconsider its decision not to apply the new Motor Vehicles Act in Bengal.

“MVA should be implemented. The MVA was scrutinised by the parliamentary committee for long. Representatives of the ruling TMC were also there. The stiffest opposition came from the south. He (Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari) consulted all southern states. It is a very progressive Act,” Meghwal said.