BEST deploys second set of electric buses from Olectra-BYD

Leading the adoption of electric buses in public transport system in the country, BrihanMumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) deployed 10 state of art 9-metre (eBuzz K7) electric buses procured from Olectra-BYD- a leader in eBus mobility in the country - as part of its 40 AC & non-AC bus order on Gross Cost Contract basis.

 The deployment of this lot of buses follows the successful trial deployment of six electric buses of 9-metre length (eBuzz K7) in November 2017 by BEST. The move to add 40 more eBuses by BEST is basis the extremely positive response it received from the passengers on a daily basis for the level of comfort, smooth ride and making every passenger feel proud for contributing to a greener Mumbai.

These eBuses were deployed under FAME 1 (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles) Scheme of Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India. Olectra-BYD is also the first EV company to achieve the coveted milestone of crossing 5 million kms cumulatively driven by its eBuses under commercial operations in Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kerala and Pune – a testimony to its quality and sturdiness.

The 10 new 9-meter electric buses were flagged off by Uddhav Thackeray in the presence of Arvind Sawant, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India,  Vishwanath Mahadeshwar, Mayor of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Dr. Surendrakumar Bagde, General Manager – BEST, Anand Swaroop, Chief Operating Officer – Olectra, amongst others from BEST office at Colaba, Mumbai.

Post the deployment of all the 46 eBuses, BEST will transport around 1 Million passengers every month in this zero-emission public transport. In addition to these, BEST is also planning to procure 250 more electric buses to facilitate the commuters to travel in environment friendly electric buses.

 On an average, running of the 46 eBuses will result in huge reduction in Carbon emissions to the tune of 1.2 Crore tons of CO2, avoids using 37 lakh liters of diesel saving significant costs on fuel each year by BEST and equivalent to planting 60,000 trees.