Odisha to expand e-bus network, launch Ama Bus service in five new cities
BHUBANESWAR: Going ahead with its plan of promoting green and sustainable public transport in urban areas, the state government will launch electric buses (e-buses) under Ama Bus service in five more cities and further expand the service in Berhampur city. It has initiated the procurement of 200 more e-buses for the purpose.
Officials in Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), that manages the Ama Bus service, said the e-buses will be introduced in Keonjhar, Baripada, Angul, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur, while the existing fleet of e-buses under Ama Bus service in Berhampur will be increased.
The e-bus service is available in the Capital region and Berhampur at present. 'Tender has been invited recently for the introduction of 200 more electric buses under Ama Bus service. The service will start in the identified cities once the procurement process is complete,' said CRUT managing director N Thirumala Naik.
CRUT has planned to purchase medium-sized electric buses for expansion of its e-bus service. The agency has decided to purchase 50 e-buses each for Berhampur and Sambalpur and 25 e-buses each for Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Angul and Jharsuguda.
The fresh procurement will increase CRUT's existing Ama Bus fleet from 560 to 760. The e-bus fleet will also go up from 180 to 380. With Berhampur already having 20 e-buses, the fresh procurement will take the number of e-bus fleet in the city to 70.
Officials said the bus operator to be finalised for procurement, operation and maintenance of these buses, will be engaged for at least a decade. Apart from the 200 e-buses, they will also be managing 400 e-buses soon under the PM-eBus Sewa scheme.
Under the scheme, the Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department plans to run at least 100 e-buses each in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Rourkela and 50 in Sambalpur. They added that implementation of the proposal has been delayed owing to legal hurdles and is expected to be implemented soon after the matter is resolved. The Centre will procure and handover the e-buses to CRUT under the scheme.
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