Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off 10 bio-diesel Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses on Friday as part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The eco-friendly initiative was launched by CM at a function at Vidhana Soudha.
Transport Department has decided to run all State Road Transport Corporation (RTCs) buses on biodiesel in the next four months.
KSRTC has become the first transport utility in the country to implement the Centre’s notification on bio-fuel issued on August 10.
According to KSRTC, the utility will save Rs 5 per litre by using bio-diesel, besides decreasing pollution.
KSRTC plans to operate 1,500 bio-fuel buses, 106 from each depot, in the coming days. The fuel proportion is 20 per cent bio-diesel and 80 per cent petro-diesel. KSRTC has a fleet of 8,200 buses with fuel consumption of 5,43,600 kilo litres per annum, which costs Rs 2,404.22 crore.
KSRTC uses 5,87,000 litres of diesel a day and it can save Rs 5.87 lakh daily with bio-diesel, saving Rs 21.50 crore in expenses annually. If bio-diesel is introduced in all the four state-run transport corporations, the government can save Rs 55 crore a year.
Bengaluru in-charge and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and Home Minister K J George were present on the occasion.
