New Delhi: In a bid to make a "grand comeback", the iconic red double-decker bus in Mumbai, is going electric and BEST will soon induct 900 such buses for the city, the tourism, and environment Aaditya Thackeray announced on Thursday in a string of tweets.
"CM Uddhav Thackeray and I have been personally keen on reviving Mumbai's iconic double-decker buses," tweeted the Minister.
"While doing so, the BEST is procuring 900 of them, fully electric and emission-free. As we increase our BEST fleet, ultimately to 10,000 electric/clean alternate fuel buses, our aim is to have maximum double-decker buses, as this increases our capacity," he added.
Aaditya has additionally mentioned municipal heads of other cities in the state to add these double-decker electric buses to their fleet.
"Along with Mumbai, I have requested municipal commissioners of other cities who are procuring electric buses to also add double-decker electric buses into their fleets on busy routes," said Thackeray.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses provide public bus services in Mumbai and neighbouring cities, including Thane, Mira-Bhayander, and Navi Mumbai. Around 25 lakh passengers travel daily in the BEST buses.
The Minister also thanked the Best chairman for accepting the government's suggestion.
"I thank BEST chairman @AshishChemburk1 ji, GM Lokesh Chandra ji, and the committee of BEST for honouring our suggestion," he said.
In July 2021, the Maharashtra government announced the state's new electric vehicle (EV) policy, saying it was looking forward to seeing EVs claiming a 10 percent share in the overall new vehicle registrations by 2025.
According to reports, the new policy exempts all EVs sold in Maharashtra from paying road tax till the duration of the policy.
It also aims to establish at least one manufacturing unit in the state to produce advanced lithium-ion batteries and proposes to set up 1,500 charging stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region by 2025.