We shall soon see new electric buses from the house of Tata Motors running on the roads of Bengaluru, the first of which have been flagged off in the state recently. The development will be a part of an agreement between the Indian automobile giant and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) as well as other Road Transport Corporations of Karnataka. A total of 4,000 electric buses are to be procured under the deal, along with 13,000 new hirings for their operations.

As the most recent development on the agreement, Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy flagged off the first prototype of the Tata electric bus on July 28. The bus comes as a 12-meter-long, low-floor electric vehicle with no air conditioning. This shall mark the first of a total of 921 Tata e-buses to be inducted by BMTC by March 2024.

At the flag-off, Reddy addressed the media by shedding more light on the future plans. As per Reddy, the Karnataka government shall procure “4,000 buses for all four Road Transport Corporations, including KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC, and KKRTC.” BMTC plans to run these electric buses across 10 depots, including Shantinagar, Jayanagar, Hennur, Deepanjalinagar, and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. As reported by MoneyControl, these electric buses will run on the 96-A route, covering 14.7 km, which covers Kempegowda Bus Stand, Rajaji Nagar, and Havanur Circle.

The government of Karnataka will spend about Rs 500 crore through its four road transport corporations for the procurement of electric buses from Tata Motors. In addition, it plans to employ around 13,000 officials for the operations and maintenance of these e-buses. The hiring shall come as the first of its kind in the state since 2016. As part of the agreement, BMTC will deploy conductors, while Tata Motors will provide the drivers for the electric buses and handle their maintenance. BMTC will pay Tata Motors Rs 41 per km under the contract, which requires each bus to cover around 200 km a day in the city.