40 electric buses rolled out in city

Miyapur: As many as 40 new electric buses were launched at TSRTC bus depot, Miyapur, Hyderabad by Olectra-BYD as contribution to the TSRTC public transport service.

Department of Heavy Industries, Government of India has sanctioned incentives for rollout of these 40 electric buses by TSRTC under FAME scheme. Only last week, the Central government announced FAME II scheme with an allocation of Rs 10,000 crore to incentivise the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the country including 7,000 electric buses over 3 years. It will give much needed boost to the ecosystem and enable more State Transport Undertakings (STUs) to deploy eBuses in their fleet.

These 40 electric buses will ferry people to the Hyderabad International Airport from various locations in the city. On an average, there would be 10 trips (one side) from the designated points daily. The officials estimate that the eBuses will be ferrying around 4.7 lakh passengers per month.

These technologically advanced, zero emission, low sound electric buses with kneeling mechanism were launched from the Miyapur Depot in the presence of Sunil Sharma, Principal Secretary for Transport, Roads and Buildings, TSRTC Managing Director; BYD India and BYD Asia Pacific Managing Director Liu Xueliang; Olectra Managing Director N K Rawal and Olectra Executive Director Naga Satyam.

With the introduction of 40 electric buses of 12-meter length, Olectra has enabled TSRTC to deploy the largest fleet of electric buses by any STU in the country. This is also the first time in the country that an electric bus of 12-metre length has been deployed commercially in the public transport service. N K Rawal said, “Olectra-BYD has been at the forefront of the sustainable mobility revolution. We continue to be focused on our agenda to provide world class mobility solutions that help reduce the carbon footprint in line with the Government’s efforts to address pollution levels in Indian cities. This milestone of crossing over 100 electric buses in the country is a tremendously significant development.”

Liu Xueliang said, “We are happy to see Government of India rolling out FAME II to encourage electric mobility in India. Being advanced technology in the battery, electric motor and electric control, the three core components to an electric vehicle has reached a successful operation experience in 50 countries and regions and over 300 global cities and has proven the electric public transportation solution is ideal for India. With Olectra’s strong understanding of the Indian market and focused approach, I have confidence that Olectra-BYD is well positioned to lead the Indian market and we have already witnessed very encouraging results.”

Naga Satyam said, “It is a proud moment for the country as every citizen of the country will be proud to know that they are contributing to nation building with these pollution-free vehicles. Not only they are directly contributing to keeping India clean and green but also saving valuable foreign exchange that would have gone into the import of crude oil, this is just the beginning of the positive impact on the ecology and the exchequer is only going to incrementally multiply as the number of buses increases.”

Wake Hirotoshi, Senior Advisor from BYD Japan who is currently in India to advise on the manufacturing process of electric buses being made in India by Olectra, said, “Adherence to the quality is utmost importance to ensure the superior offering that delivers on all parameters of performance. We want the passengers to feel comfortable traveling in our buses and I hopefully look forward to these pollution-free vehicles take over and help in reducing pollution."
Currently, they have 108 electric buses across the state and cities of Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Pune, Kerala and now Telangana. So far, Olectra-BYD buses have clocked close to 6 lakh plus kilometers which have resulted in the CO2 emission reducing up to 630 tonnes equivalent to 3,143 trees which are required to handle that much of carbon emission. Olectra-BYD has an agenda to redefine the public transport landscape by continuously proving the use case, effectiveness, and benefits of these solutions.