BMTC to ply eco-friendly BSVI buses

By NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: BMTC is planning to induct 565 environmentfriendly BSVI buses by February 2022. These buses are said to be 50% less polluting than the earlier generation BS4 vehicles. . In Bengaluru, vehicular pollution is one of the major contributors towards worsening air quality.

The public transporter claimed it will procure the buses with the support of the Karnataka government. On Saturday, BMTC senior officials inspected the first BSVI bus received from Ashok Leyland in Bengaluru and stated that the corporation will be the first in the state to introduce BSVI buses.

It may be recalled that BMTC had made no procurements in 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It had earlier procured 1,406 buses in 2017-18 and 361 in 2019-20.

BMTC will also operate 90 non-AC electric buses under the Smart City project.

BMTC had recently unveiled the first electric bus, which will run as a part of a feeder service at Namma Metro stations, to address the issue of lastmile connectivity for metro passengers. As many as 90 electric buses will be leased by the National Thermal Power Corporation Vypar Vidyut Nigam.

BMTC currently has a fleet size of 6,400 buses, including 860 AC buses.