Prototype of new electric bus received by KSRTC in Bengaluru on 31 December. , Photo credit: Sudhakara Jain
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation received a prototype of an electric bus under the FAME-2 scheme on Saturday, 31 December.
this B. Sriramulu, Minister for Transport and Tribal Welfare and was received by KSRTC officials. Officials said the service is to be operated on the Bengaluru-Mysore route for a trial run.
KSRTC will induct 50 electric buses by the end of February 2023, and deploy them on various routes including Bengaluru to Mysuru, Madikeri, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru.
“KSRTC has selected its electric bus name as ‘EV – Power Plus’ with the tagline ‘E-Experience E-levated’ from the multiple entries received from the public in the competition held,” said a statement from KSRTC. “After the success of the KSRTC Intercity (Prototype) Electric Bus introduced today, all the remaining Electric Buses will be made operational on various routes.”
Under FAME-2, KSRTC will operate the buses through a private operator on gross cost contract basis, under which the private operator will operate the buses for 10 years. KSRTC will pay ₹55 per kilometer as operational cost to the private operator.
The corporation has set up electric vehicle charging stations for buses in Bengaluru and Mysuru.