Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to introduce privately operated electric buses on select routes in Lucknow and Kanpur, in a move aimed at improving public transport connectivity in and around the two cities.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said 15 of the 16 proposals placed before the Cabinet were approved. One proposal, belonging to the agricultural sector, was dropped, he said, without elaborating on it.

Energy Minister A K Sharma said the electric bus project, approved as a pilot initiative, will run on a “net cost contract model,” where private operators will bear all operational expenses and risks without government subsidy.