Team Herald
PORVORIM: Alleging that the operations of the electric KTCL buses were steeped in corruption, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on Tuesday claimed that the lifetime cost of diesel buses is higher than the hybrid electric buses.
Sardesai stated that the budget speeches of last year and the current fiscal year gave an impression that the government availed funds under FAME 1 and 2 to purchase electrical buses. Instead, he stated, the government has tendered electric buses to private companies. “Electric buses are easy to maintain. They have very few moving parts. If the KTCL can maintain diesel buses, why can’t they maintain electric buses? How much would additional electric vehicle maintenance engineers cost? If it was high, the government could have outsourced the maintenance of the buses, and not the operations,” he said. The legislator asked the government about the total number of Goans employed in operating the KTCL buses. “The government had awarded the tender to Evey Trans Pvt Ltd for Cost of Electric vehicle Rs 75 for 12 mts bus (50 buses) but in comparison to other cities, the tendered amount is higher. Why is Goa the fourth highest, of the 40 tenders awarded across the country?” he questioned.
Sardesai further revealed that the lifetime cost of the Diesel bus is generally higher by 50 percent compared to the hybrid-electric bus, and that there is a reduction of around 10 to 15 percent in lifetime costs when the electric bus fleet is charged by solar electricity.
