Srinagar—Srinagar Smart City proposes to introduce Eco-friendly Electric Buses in Srinagar City under the Sri­nagar Smart City mission. A formal request to this effect has been made by Farooq Ahmad Lone, Chief Executive Officer, Srinagar Smart City Limited to Managing Director, JKSRTC wherein M.D, JKSRTC has been requested to submit the DPR (Detailed Project Report) regarding the proposal.

The proposal has been made under the pan-city projects in urban mobility component of the Srinagar Smart City. The introduction of electric buses has been approved as Convergence Project between J&K State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) and Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) for which provision of Rs 19.88 crores has been proposed under the Smart City funding for the purpose spread over a period of two years.

The electric buses are expected to ply on city roads soon as electric buses are being introduced as an electrification of passenger transportation and are being promoted to reduce the levels of air pollution caused due to the conventional buses. Electric buses are battery driven which are electri­cally charged at designated charging stations. These also offer zero-emission, quiet operation and better acceleration compared to the traditional buses. With energy consumption of about 1.2 kWh/Km the cost of operation of these buses is also low compared to the traditional diesel or CNG run buses.