PM’s gift: Two battery buses for MPs to keep pollution in check

Amid a raging debate on pollution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to gift two electric buses to MPs that will help them play their part in preventing choking of the national Capital.

“If all goes as per plan, the Prime Minister will donate these two electric buses to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on December 21,” said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

These lithium-ion-powered buses, running on the same battery that is used to propel satellites made by India’s apex space agency ISRO, will ferry Members of Parliament, he said. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists, in collaboration with the ministry and other wings, have developed the batteries costing Rs 5 lakh – about a tenth of the astronomical Rs 55 lakh for imported ones, he said.

This is in line with the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ drive, he said, adding that such vehicles will be commercialised and the patents have been registered. “We plan to run 15 such buses on Delhi roads as a pilot project initially and the same would be replicated at other places too,” Gadkari said.

Pollution is an issue which concerns the government deeply and the ministry is committed to addressing all such issues related to Delhi within two years, he said. The idea is to minimise pollution in the entire country, not just Delhi, he stressed. “We plan to convert 1.5 lakh buses in the country which currently run on diesel to electric,” he said.