Mumbai: BEST plans 100% electric bus fleet by 2027

BEST proposes to acquire 2,650 electric buses in a year to expand its fleet to 8,000.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has announced its plan to have a 100% electric bus fleet by 2027. BEST proposes to acquire 2,650 electric buses in a year to expand its fleet to 8,000 in the next 2-3 years.

Currently, BEST operates 2,911 buses. Out of the 711 electric buses, 50 are AC double-deckers, while an additional 150 are being procured. In its budget for 2025-26, BEST announced that it plans to acquire 1,000 electric AC double-decker buses, expanding its double-decker fleet to 1,200.

The public transport company revealed that under an earlier contract for 2,100 electric buses, only 275 units were delivered. Also, there are plans to decommission 510 old buses in the next 4 months.

Anil Diggikar, General Manager of BEST, said, “Tenders for 1,000 double-deckers will be initiated once the BMC approves the budget proposal. He added, “It will increase the number of buses on roads, reduce queues at stops, and have more carrying capacity per bus.”

Source: TOI