More e-buses for HRTC to achieve ‘Green Energy’ initiative : Chief Minister Sukhu

Govt releases Rs. 327 crore to purchase electric buses

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while presiding over a meeting of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) said that the State Government would provide all possible assistance to the Corporation to revive it from the financial loss and make it a profitable organization.

The HRTC which is a lifeline of hill transport system plays a very pivotal role in providing reliable services to the people with more than 12,000 employees, whom the Chief Minister termed as the backbone of the corporation.

The Chief Minister said that the HRTC would be transformed into a ‘Green Transportation System’ as more electric buses were being introduced in the already existing fleet of 110 e-buses and 50 e-taxis. He said that Rs. 327 crore had been provided to purchase electric buses and the process was underway to procure 2,000 additional type-II e-buses. The entire fleet of diesel buses will be replaced by e-buses in a phased manner, said he.

At present in the first phase HRTC is plying six buses to Ayodhya to facilitate the devotees with plans to add more if necessary. Besides, it was also providing its services to other religious places, said the Chief Minister.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that the HRTC was providing reliable transport services in the challenging terrains of Himachal Pradesh. The employees and pensioners of the organization now have been receiving their salary and pension on the day one of every month for the last seven months, whereas during the previous BJP government, the employees and pensioners had to wait for eight to 10 days to get their salaries released.

Advisor Infrastructure Anil Kapil, Principal Secretary Transport R.D. Nazeem, Principal Secretary Finance Devesh Kumar, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Managing Director HRTC Rohan Chand Thakur and other senior officers also attended the meeting.