West Bengal Transport Minister Firhad Hakim said that the state government is focusing on adding 2,000 electric buses to its fleet and also converting at least 3,000 diesel-run buses into CNG-powered vehicles in the next few years, in a bid to reduce vehicular pollution.
Speaking on the use of compressed natural gas (CNG), Hakim said the department is planning to convert 30,000 diesel-run buses into CNG-operated vehicles in a phased manner. The core objective of the state transport plan is to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which will lead to a reduction in pollution and improvement of air quality.
Hakim said, “We have converted diesel engines to CNG ones in 30 buses and the trial run was encouraging. We are now planning to ramp it up to 3,000 buses. The government is also appealing to private bus operators to join this initiative.”
Around 80 electric buses are currently plying the roads of Kolkata and a pilot project for turning 30 fossil fuel-run buses into CNG-operated ones has been completed. The state government has excluded registration fees, motor vehicles and other taxes for electric vehicles to facilitate faster adoption of green transport.
