GUWAHATI, Nov 4 - Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off 15 electric buses which were introduced under the Assam State Transport Corporation in the city today. The new buses procured under �Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles� (FAME-1) and introduced as a pilot project will ply from Panbazar to Kamakhya Temple.
Sonowal said that following the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State government is moving forward to make Assam pollution-free. He said depending on the success of this pilot project, the government will introduce electric bus services across the State in phases.
Stating that the State government is working to transform Guwahati as the gateway to the Southeast Asian countries, the Chief Minister said that such a vision to materialise requires a great deal of support from all sections of society. Sonowal said introduction of the electric vehicles is a small step towards achieving the government�s goal of making Assam a pollution-free state and there is a lot to be done in future.
Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said with the introduction of 15 electric buses in Guwahati, the government laid the foundation for an emission-free transport system in the State. He further said that the Government of India launched the FAME scheme last year and Assam was one of the first five states to apply and implement this scheme by procuring these 15 electric buses. He also informed that these buses will have all the modern amenities, security features and most importantly will not release any harmful gas.
The Transport Minister also said that his department will soon ink an MoU with a Hungary-based company for setting up of an electric bus manufacturing unit in Assam.
Earlier, delivering the welcome speech, ASTC MD Anand Prakash Tiwari informed that after the success of FAME-1, the State government will introduce 100 additional electric buses under FAME-2 for which necessary process has been started. Out of these buses, 50 will ply in Guwahati, while 25 each will be pressed into service at Jorhat and Silchar. He said that apart from setting up a CNG station at Dibrugarh, efforts are also on to set up more such stations in future.
