GUWAHATI: In order to curb pollution, the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is mulling to replace the state-runned city buses with electric and compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicles in the next five years.
As per reports, the State Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya said that the process to procure the electric and CNG buses has begun.
Earlier on August 5, the minister chaired an important review meeting with the Sonitpur district officials of Transport wherein he took stock of a number of aspects including revenue figures of Road Safety vigil tasks by Transport Department among others.
According to reports, there are about 700 privately-owned city buses, all of which run on diesel. Among them, 260 are under ASTC. 15 electric city buses under ASTC run in the city roads since 2019. These were procured under the Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme, which encourage production and use of hybrid and electric vehicles by providing subsidies.
The minister further stated that the work for installation of CNG stations in the city has already started. He said that the government has already floated a few tenders for setting up CNG stations saying that the owners of the present fuel stations can also opt for installation of CNG stations.
The minister further stated that the government will implement a policy under which people will get subsidies at the time of purchasing electric or CNG-powered buses.
Notably, the replacement of the petrol and diesel-run buses of the ASTC will later take place in other parts of the state.
Also Watch: