Bhopal E-Buses to Begin Commercial Operations from 25 July, Fares Set at Just ₹1.50 Per Kilometre

Bhopal: Electric bus services are set to roll out in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, from 25 July. Bhopal City Link Limited, which is preparing the necessary infrastructure, will conduct trial runs of the buses across various city routes for five days starting 20 July. If the trials go smoothly, commercial operations of electric buses on 10 city routes are expected to commence around 25 July.

In the initial phase, fares have been fixed at ₹1.50 per kilometre, with a minimum fare of ₹7. This means a passenger travelling 10 kilometres would pay just ₹15. The comfortable e-buses are expected to play a significant role in offering affordable transport to the general public.

Plan to Expand to 200 E-Buses in the City

The project, being run with support from the Madhya Pradesh and central governments, has been tendered to a private company, GreenCell. In the first phase, the firm will operate 20 electric buses in Bhopal, with plans to later expand the fleet to 100 and eventually 200 buses.

E-Buses to Run in Five Major Cities of MP

GreenCell will operate 587 buses across five major cities in Madhya Pradesh, including Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Ujjain. As per the tender terms, the company will bear the full cost of charging infrastructure, maintenance and staffing. In return, the state government will pay the operator ₹58.17 per kilometre towards operational costs.

Routes the E-Buses Will Cover in Bhopal

Route	Distance (km)
Sukhi Sewania to Bhojpur	49
Atal Bihari University to RRF Camp Bagroda	50.6
Acharpura Industrial Area to BDA Colony	32
Acharpura Industrial Area to Bilkisganj	41.8
Parwalia Road to Obedullaganj	56.8
Sehore to Ratapani	68.5
Sehore to Katara Bypass Tiraha	53.7
Coach Factory to Obedullaganj	41.3
Fanda to Mandideep	65.3
Bilkhiria to Sehore	61.5