Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar has announced that he will not favour electric buses in place of fossil fuel-powered buses for the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, a marked departure from the policy of former Transport Minister Antony Raju.
The KSRTC had been maintaining that electric buses were a huge success with a sharp rise in daily patronage of the city circular buses.
Addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday, Mr. Ganesh Kumar said electric buses purchased spending less than ₹1 crore had become a liability for the corporation as revenue had been less than that of diesel-powered buses. Further, at least four diesel buses could be procured at the cost of ₹1 crore.
In the same breath, he said diesel buses trailing behind electric buses and autorickshaws operating on the same route were staring at a bleak future with the introduction of ₹10 city circular service. Further, there was no guarantee on the life of electric buses such as how long they could be operated, he said.
The KSRTC had earlier maintained that it was only after the introduction of electric buses that the city circular service started netting profit. The average revenue of electric buses per km was ₹35 while the expense was ₹23, which included electricity charges and the salary of the crew. On the other hand, the expense per km for diesel buses was ₹74 and the revenue ₹35.
The Minister also hinted that diesel buses would be procured under the platform of the KSRTC, while the electric buses were under the new KSRTC-SWIFT platform.
KSRTC sources, however, said it was not easy to shift to diesel buses again from electric buses as the vehicles had become a huge success among daily commuters. Any move to ditch electric buses along with the decision to revise the ₹10 ticket fare would invite the wrath of the public.
Further, the KSRTC had already placed an order for 45 electric buses, which cannot be cancelled. In addition, the corporation would consider the operation of electric buses on wet lease, the sources said.