Nagpur: In a significant development for public transportation in Nagpur city, the Maharashtra Government has released Rs 137 crore to procure 250 electric buses. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis made the announcement at a recent function held in Nagpur.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has already received the funds, and its Transport Department has floated a tender for the appointment of a technical advisor. This move is expected to increase the number of electric buses in the city, while also reducing the expenses of operating the city bus service.
Gold Rate
21 April 2025
Currently, the NMC generates a revenue of Rs 6 crore from the Aapli Bus service. However, its expenses to run the transport service are approximately Rs 14 crore per month. To address this issue, the NMC has replaced 60 standard diesel buses in its Aapli Bus fleet with 74 electric buses, including 28 air-conditioned midi buses.
Another 12 AC electric buses procured by Smart City are expected to join the Aapli Bus fleet next week, while the Uttar Pradesh-based PMI will start delivering 144 AC midi electrical buses in phases by the end of this month.
Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Radhakrishnan B has announced plans to replace all diesel buses in the NMC transport service with environment-friendly electric buses. With the new electric buses expected to reduce operating costs and generate significant savings, the move is likely to have a positive impact on the environment and the city’s public transport system.
Meanwhile, the number of passengers travelling in air conditioned Aapli Bus has increased by almost 100 times. In February 2023, after it introduced the AC buses in the previous month, an average 3,000 passengers opted to travel in these electric midi buses. Now, approximately 6% of 1 lakh passengers are preferring AC buses.
The increase in footfall in AC buses has also shot up the earning per bus for the civic body. Earlier, the average earning per km (EPK) of the AC buses was around Rs18, while earning per bus (EPB) was around Rs3,054 daily, said an official. Now, the EPB is around Rs3,400 while EPK is approximately Rs19.19, the official added.
Of the 382 Aapli Buses being operated by the civic body, 28 are AC electric buses. The NMC is operating the AC buses on nine different routes which include Sitabuldi to Pardi via Gandhibagh, Isasani, YCCE, Tekadi bus stop, Shiv Nagar (Dabha), Butibori, Hingna Gramin Hospital, Nagpur Airport and YCCE College to Defence Gate number 3.
