UPSRTC approves ₹200 crore to launch 120 e-buses for NCR

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LUCKNOW, Uttar Pradesh: On Monday, August 26, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) approved a proposal sanctioning ₹200 crore for purchasing 120 electric buses for cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), including Noida and Ghaziabad. Officials informed that another ₹300 crore has been approved for purchasing diesel buses for other districts.

This initiative is in line with the directive of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) asking the UP roadways to phase out diesel buses from NCR.

KP Singh, Special Secretary, wrote in his letter to the Department of Transport, “Plying of electric buses in NCR cities is important due to air pollution in winter. ₹200 crore has been sanctioned for e-buses and ₹300 crore for diesel buses. As per the CAQM’s direction, all buses, originating from NCR districts in the respective states and plying to Delhi, would be either electric vehicles or CNG (compressed natural gas) or BS-VI (Bharat State 6) diesel engines buses.”

About 300 buses of the UP Roadways operate from the depots in Noida and Greater Noida every day. These buses connect NCR cities, including Agra, Mathura, Lucknow, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Bareilly, Hapur, Dadri, Badaun, Jewar, etc. Similarly, 700 buses of the transport department operate in Ghaziabad to other districts of Uttar Pradesh. These buses run from Kaushambi, Sahibabad, and Loni. All of them run on CNG.