80 percent of Delhi's bus fleet will run on electric by 2025: CM Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Eighty per cent of Delhi's bus fleet will run on electric by 2025, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday, asserting that acquisition of e-buses will go a long way in reducing pollution in the national capital.

Sharing a roadmap for procurement of electric buses, he said the government will be buying 1,500 such buses in 2023 and by 2025, 6,380 electric buses will be procured.

"We have 300 electric buses now. Delhi has 7,379 buses plying on its roads currently which is the highest number of buses plying on the roads in the last 75 years. New buses were not purchased for many years and we were also questioned over it," he said at a ceremony at the Rajghat Depot to flag off 50 electric buses.

Out of the 7,379 buses, more than 4,000 are being operated by the Delhi Transport Corporation and over 3,000 through the DIMTS, he said. Kejriwal also shared that nearly 100 electric feeder buses were being operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. But as it could not run them, the Delhi government is taking over the corporation's bus fleet, he said.

"By 2025, over 10,000 buses will be there on Delhi's roads and 80 per cent of them will be electric. This is a huge step in reducing pollution," he said. The chief minister also said the process installing charging points for e-buses at depots is going on and three already have the facility.

"By June this year, the work of electrification of 17 bus depots will be completed and by December, 36 bus depots will be electrified," Kejriwal said. The electric buses are equipped with facilities like panic buttons, GPS, cameras.