Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh state road transport corporation (APSRTC) authorities in the NTR district have initiated work to develop the electricity infrastructure required to charge electric buses at the Vidyadharapuram bus depot in Vijayawada city. The NTR district is set to receive a fleet of 100 e-buses out of the 750 e-buses allocated to APSRTC under the PM e-Bus Seva Scheme.The RTC authorities have designated the Vidyadharapuram bus depot for the operational maintenance and charging of the 100 electric buses, although the expected handover timeline has not yet been confirmed by the district RTC authorities.In this regard, APSRTC has written to the electricity department requesting the laying of a new 132/33 kV high-tension (HT) electric line to the Vidyadharapuram bus depot. The electricity department has agreed and asked the state-owned transport corporation to bear the expenditure required for laying the HT line.Vidyadharapuram bus depot manager Subramanyam told TOI that the electricity department has given its in-principle approval to lay the HT line and requested a demand draft (DD) of Rs 4.66 crore, which covers the cost of laying the new line. He stated that, given the large amount required, RTC authorities from the NTR district have written to the RTC headquarters seeking the sanction of Rs 4.66 crore in funds.According to the depot manager, around 15 charging stations will be developed on the premises of the Vidyadharapuram bus depot. He said it would take approximately two hours for an electric bus to be fully charged, and each bus will have a range of 200 km on a single charge.
