The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) hopes to operate without subsidy in the future with EV being 66 per cent cheaper than diesel-run buses. The WBTC aims to replace its entire diesel guzzling fleet with clean-fuel or battery-run buses by 2030.
“Since fuel price is almost 60 per cent of the operation cost of a bus, electric buses will be a big saver. If it costs Rs 45 per km for a diesel bus, it is Rs 15 or less than that for an electric bus. Since the government subsidises the common man’s commute costs to a great extent, we cannot raise fares. But if it is EV, the WBTC can manage to stay afloat with this fare,” said WBTC managing director, RVS Kapur at CII Energy Conclave 2022 in the city. Kapur was honoured by CII for excellence in EV policy implementation.
“Under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles- II (FAME-II), Kolkata is the recipient of the biggest fleet of 1,080 buses – this is the number of electric buses possessed by the entire South America. Under the operating expenses or opex model, the Bengal government has not paid a single penny. It has committed to pay an amount per km. The maintenance and driver’s cost will be the responsibility of the operator – the manufacturer of these buses. Here it is Tata Motors,” said Sudhendra J Singh, advisor, NITI Aayog.
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