Karnataka’s Cabinet has approved the addition of 4,500 electric buses to the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) fleet under the central government’s PM E-Drive programme, Transport Minister B. Suresh said after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
The proposed fleet will include 3,800 electric buses measuring 12 metres and 900 buses measuring nine metres. Of the total, 400 buses will be air-conditioned, according to the minister’s statement reported by Vijay Karnataka. The buses will be manufactured and supplied in phases by vehicle manufacturers through the central government’s programme, with services expected to be introduced gradually in Bengaluru.
The state government is expected to spend Rs 600 crore annually on the electric bus programme. The minister said the total expenditure over 20 years could reach approximately Rs 12,000 crore. Under the proposed operating arrangement, BMTC will pay bus manufacturers a fixed amount based on kilometres operated, while the central government will facilitate supply through different bus manufacturers.
The Cabinet decision is the first major expansion of BMTC’s electric fleet at this scale, according to the report. The government said the buses would help reduce air pollution in Bengaluru and support its environmental objectives. The report did not specify the routes, depot locations, procurement schedule or the date on which the first batch will enter passenger service.
The government is also considering new bus depots in Karnataka and upgrades to existing bus stands. To fund this work, it has decided to seek a loan of Rs 2,000 crore from the central government, the minister said. Details of the proposed depots, the facilities to be upgraded and the financing terms were not provided in the announcement.
Separately, the state plans to begin issuing free smart cards to more than one crore women under the Shakti scheme. The first phase of the card distribution programme is expected to cost Rs 250 crore, with the process scheduled to begin shortly, according to the transport minister. The cards are intended for women using the state’s free bus travel scheme, although the announcement did not provide a distribution timetable or details of the application process.
The Cabinet announcements come as Karnataka’s four state transport corporations face rising operating costs. The minister said increases in petroleum product prices over the past eight months had contributed to losses running into thousands of crores of rupees across the corporations.
A committee led by retired senior IAS officer Atul Tiwari is studying a possible revision of bus fares and is expected to submit its report to the government shortly. The minister said any increase would be limited in view of drought conditions and that the state government would provide assistance to reduce the impact on passengers. No revised fare structure or implementation date has been announced.
The next steps are the phased procurement and deployment of the approved electric buses, the planned launch of the Shakti smart-card process and the submission of the committee’s report on bus fares. The government has not yet announced the first delivery date or the routes on which the new BMTC buses will operate.
