Chennai has placed 130 new low-floor air-conditioned electric buses into service, the first operational batch of a larger 750-bus second-phase programme. Eighty will run from Alandur depot and 50 from Central depot across 25 routes connecting destinations including the airport, Kilambakkam, Siruseri, Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Mamallapuram and Poonamallee.
Chennai’s electric bus transition entered its next operational phase on Tuesday, August 25, with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay flagging off 130 low-floor AC electric buses for the Metropolitan Transport Corporation.
The buses were launched for public service from the Secretariat. They represent the first batch of a proposed 750-bus second phase, which the State has valued at about ₹1,337 crore and plans to deploy through seven MTC depots. The 130 buses launched on Tuesday are reported to account for ₹234.50 crore of that programme.
Deployment is split between two depots: 80 buses from Alandur and 50 from Central, covering 25 routes. Alandur-based services include airport connections to Kilambakkam, Siruseri IT Park and Adyar, alongside routes serving Koyambedu, Tambaram, Chengalpattu, Mamallapuram and OMR. Central-depot buses will serve corridors towards Perambur, Pattabiram, Kundrathur, Tiruporur, Tiruverkadu and Poonamallee.
The new batch builds on 625 low-floor electric buses already operating through five MTC depots, a first-phase programme valued at ₹697 crore. MTC’s earlier annual reporting identified the electric-bus programme as part of the World Bank-supported Chennai City Partnership framework and described deployment through a Gross Cost Contract model.
The August 25 event was broader than the 130 electric buses alone. Vijay also flagged off 120 conventional buses for Tamil Nadu’s State Transport Undertakings, taking the total number of buses launched at the event to 250, with a combined stated value of ₹290.08 crore.
The second-phase electric programme is not yet fully operational. The remaining buses are expected to be introduced progressively as depot charging, maintenance and associated infrastructure become ready across Alandur, Central Workshop-II, Perambur, Padiyanallur, Avadi, KK Nagar and Iyyappanthangal.
That distinction matters: 130 buses entered service on August 25; 750 is the planned scale of the wider phase, not the number launched this week.
