Bengaluru: Kerala’s urban areas are much cleaner than cities such as Delhi or Mumbai, but it is still planning to introduce electricity-run vehicles.

The state-run Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which runs a fleet of 6,400 buses transporting almost 20% of total bus travellers, is planning to introduce 300 new electric buses for inter-city travel within the next six months, said its head Tomin J. Thachankary. To test the roads, it will start a 15-day trial run starting Monday after which the tender process will begin, he said.

The electricity-run buses have many advantages—apart from design elements to make it palatable to an urban audience such as air-conditioned push back seats, CCTV cameras and GPS tracking, it crucially gives out zero emission and no sound. But for the local government, the policy shift also seems to be a result of another factor—economics.

The corporation is planning to lease electric buses from dealers for specific inter-city routes. The leased e-buses will come with its own operators, so the corporation does not have to employ more staffers. Plus, charging much higher for tickets than the usual ₹ 20 for every 5km, the corporation also stands to get significantly more money plying e-buses, according to Thachankary.

“Running every one of my ₹ 30 lakh costing fossil fuel-run buses, I’m making a loss of ₹ 40 lakh per year. Once the leased e-buses come in, my per kilometre expenses will be much lesser than those buses. Plus, I have no headache over pollution," Thachankary said over the phone.

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