Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday flagged off 100 non-AC electric buses of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) in partnership with Tata under the Centre's Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME-II), India project at the grand step of Vidhana Soudha here.
Addressing the event, the Chief Minister said, "Electric buses will facilitate transportation and reduce air pollution. There will be smoke-free, traffic nuisance will also be reduced. Electric buses will become more people-friendly."
"The EV buses have been brought in collaboration with BMTC and Tata Motors. 100 EV buses have been put into operation today. It is being done for the convenience of Bengaluru commuters. By the end of March, 1,600 EV buses will ply in the BMTC. All the buses are manufactured at Tata Motors in Dharwad. EV buses are being manufactured in our state. Along with the ease of transportation, pollution in the atmosphere will be reduced," the Karnataka Chief Minister added.
"There are currently 6,144 buses in Bengaluru and 40 lakh people are traveling. In this, all women are travelling for free. One can travel freely without caste or creed discrimination. Not only Bengaluru, they can travel in the entire state," he said.
"Shakti Scheme is being of great use to the workers and school children. No government had done this before. No free travel program had been made. The opposition parties are criticizing. Why was it not done in their time? Women should answer them, they should answer the BJP by blessing the Congress government in the next election," he said.
"Due to our guarantees, the purchasing power of people and the economic activity of the state is also increasing. These schemes save a lot of money for labourers, farmers and women. They use that money for other needs of their family. Thus, the economic power of millions of families is also increasing," the Chief Minister said.
"About 4.30 crore people of the state are directly benefiting from the government guarantee schemes. By that, the poor and working classes are being brought into the mainstream of economic progress," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, "We are going to achieve the status of having the highest number of EV buses in the entire country within a year. Earlier, when the Siddaramaiah government brought EVM policy, everyone laughed. The whole country needs to think about pollution and this is our first step for that."
"Our government has brought 'Shakti Yojana' (Shakti scheme). There may be a financial loss to us from the free plan. But the turnover of others has increased. Money is flowing in everyone's hands. Business turnover has increased. We did a survey. 80 per cent of people expressed their happiness. We have taken a historical judgment," the Deputy Chief Minister added.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, "The Chief Minister has commissioned 100 EV buses of BMTC. Tata Company has added GCC model buses at Rs 41 per kilometre. The 921 EV buses will arrive by the end of March. The construction of a charging station on three sides has already been completed. A tender has been called for AC buses too. 1,751 EV bus will join the transport company in April," he added.
Also read:
