Delhi to become first state to have 1,500 electric buses: Gahlot

New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) Delhi Transport Minister Gahlot has said that the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will soon deploy 1,500 electric buses, making the national capital the first state to adopt e-buses on such a huge scale.

Gahlot on Thursday night tweeted, "Under Hon'ble CM Arvind Kejriwal's vision, we're committed to achieve 100% electrification of buses. DTC will soon be deploying 1500 e-buses as part of TheGrandChallenge. Convergence CESL has announced RFP. Delhi will be the 1st state to adopt e-buses at such scale."

On Thursday, the Kejriwal-led government launched a dedicated one-stop website for the promotion and adoption of electric vehicles in the city to encourage commuters to switch to EVs.

"The website is developed as a distinctive modern website to provide all the required information to the potential EV consumer and make it interactive to suit the needs and aspirations of the consumer by being responsive for mobile devices and intuitive to easily find information to visitors," the Delhi government said in a statement.

The website will impart information on charging stations like its location, type of charger needed and charging points.

"As the charging stations are growing each day in Delhi, the website will provide real-time updated numbers to the users," it said.

On Wednesday, the Delhi government signed an agreement with Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) for installation of charging and battery swapping stations for electric two, three and four-wheelers at cluster bus depots of its Transport Department.

The Delhi government on Monday had launched its first electric bus.

Last week, the Transport Minister had told the media that almost 50 e-buses will be inducted in the DTC's fleet by the second week of February and the target of 300 buses will be achieved by April.