Electric buses set to ply on Hyderabad roads

TSRTC to run Goldstone bus to airport on experimental basis

Hyderabad: If the experiment of the TSRTC proved successful, soon passengers bound to airport would have modern swanky electric buses to travel from various parts of the city. To begin with, an electric bus would be operated from the city to the Shamshabad airport.

The TSRTC is working out the logistics to operate the first such bus without incurring any burden on its exchequer. Senior officials of the TSRTC told The Hans India that Silicon rubber insulator manufacturer Goldstone infratech company has come forward to give an electric bus costing Rs 2 crore to the TSRTC for trial run.

The bus, once fully charged, can run up to 200 km. If the plan goes well, the corporation would be saving a lot on fuel, the source said, adding that it would also help bring down the emission levels caused by diesel buses.

The official said Goldstone was negotiating with Chinese automobile companies to manufacture electric buses in the country to meet the growing demand. With the success of electric buses in Bengaluru, the demand for such buses has gone up in other parts of the country. Though each bus now costs Rs 2 core, the cost would come down once the manufacturing of these buses begins in the country.

Stating that the entire infrastructure required would be borne by the company, RTC executive director M Ravinder said studies in states where such buses were in operation had shown that the operational cost of these buses was almost 50 per cent less than the diesel ones. While the operational cost of diesel bus was Rs 18 per km, the electric bus would cost Rs 9 only.

By K Chandrashekar