Express News Service By

If city roads do not play spoilsport, Bangalore may be among the first cities in the country to run battery-operated and hybrid buses. While the battery-operated buses

have arrived in India and are expected in the city next month, the Government ofIndia has sanctioned 50 hybrid buses for the BMTC, aid Anjum Parvez, Managing Director, BMTC. The fully battery-operated bus requires 7-8 hours

of charging and can travel 280 km when fully charged.“However, most of these buses have been tested in European countries and we have to see how they fare on Indian roads,” he said. These buses will be put on trial run for three months before a decision

to procure the vehicle is made.In the hybrid bus, the battery is charged while the bus moves and when the battery is fully charged, the engine automatically shifts to battery. “We can save at least 30 per cent fuel in the hybrid buses,” Parvez said.

He added that hybrid buses best suit Indian road conditions and considering that it is also the government’s policy to promote hybrid buses, 50 buses had been sanctioned for the BMTC.

“Many manufacturers like Volvo, Mercedes, Tata and Ashok Leyland are working on hybrid buses.

We have asked the Centre to provide a model request for proposal to call tenders, as this is new territory for us as well,” Parvez added.