To strengthen last-mile connectivity in the city, the government will soon be introducing a new fleet of compact electric buses, which will be smaller than the existing metro feeder buses, officials said on Wednesday.
The Delhi government has placed an order for 500 seven-metre e-buses under the Centre’s PM e-Drive scheme, chief minister Rekha Gupta said.
According to officials, these compact buses will be deployed on narrow stretches and interior roads where larger buses struggle to operate. The move is aimed at improving access to congested colonies and enhancing last mile connectivity along with reducing emissions.
“We have placed orders for the first lot of 500 seven-metre buses for Delhi. We are expecting these buses by 2027-28 in batches. The Delhi government aims to ensure that, in the coming months, Delhi’s bus fleet becomes one of the largest and cleanest e-bus networks in the world,” said CM Rekha Gupta.
Transport minister Pankaj Singh said the tendering process has been completed and the first batch of buses is expected to hit the roads soon. He added that the roll-out will take place in phases.
“Despite their smaller size, the buses will offer features similar to the existing nine-metre DEVi electric buses. These include low-floor entry for easy boarding, air-conditioning, CCTV cameras for passenger safety, panic buttons, GPS tracking and real-time passenger info system,” said Singh.
The transport department of the Delhi government sent a detailed proposal to the Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL), for the immediate procurement of 3,330 additional electric buses, including 500 buses of seven metres, 2,330 buses of nine metres and 500 buses of 12 metres.
“The seven-metre buses will serve narrow streets and provide last-mile connectivity to residents. The nine-metre buses will operate on smaller roads and as feeder services. The 12-metre buses will be deployed on main routes and heavily congested corridors,” said a transport department official.
At present, a total of 5,336 government buses are operating in Delhi. Of these, over 4,000 are electric buses, which include over 1,200 nine-metre DEVi buses, around 2,000 twelve-metre buses and 100 feeder buses.
According to the chief minister, more than 5,000 electric buses will be operating on Delhi’s roads by March this year and the total fleet is planned to increase to 13,760 buses by 2028.
The Prime Minister Electric Drive (PM e-DRIVE) scheme is an initiative implemented by the Union ministry of heavy industries with a budget of ₹10,900 crore, for the period from October 2024 to March 2026.
The primary objective of the scheme is to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by providing financial incentives for the purchase of electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, e-buses and e-trucks.