Maharashtra Government to Launch First Electric Bus Shivaee on June 1

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on Monday said it will launch its first-ever electric bus on June 1 on the Pune-Ahmednagar route on a day when the state-run transport body will enter the 75th year of its operations.

In a release here, MSRTC said the new e-bus, christened as “Shivaee”, will be launched in the presence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other dignitaries at the premises of the corporation’s regional office in Pune.

On June 1, 1948, the first bus service of MSRTC was launched on the Pune-Ahmednagar route. Therefore, the state-owned transport body will celebrate its 74th anniversary on Wednesday and enter into the diamond jubilee year.

MSRTC is one of the biggest state-owned public transport undertakings in the country with a fleet of over 16,000 buses. The loss-making corporation had been ferrying over 65 lakh passengers daily before the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.

According to the release, Laxman Kevate, the conductor of the first bus that operated on the Pune-Ahmednagar route on June 1, 1948, will flag-off MSRTC’s maiden e-bus “Shivaee”. Besides, a charging station will be inaugurated by Ajit Pawar in the regional office premises of the corporation.

The transport body is going to operate six daily services with a 12-metre long e-bus having a seating capacity of 43, according to the release.

The noise and air pollution free e-bus has a battery capacity of 322 kv and it will run at a speed of 80 kmph, it said As per the release, MSRTC is going to add some more e-buses in its fleet in phases.