The Delhi Government has finally flagged off the first lot of 25 new buses of the 1,000 standard floor buses fitted with hydraulic lifts to facilitate disabled persons.

The buses were flagged off by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and he said that in next seven-eight months, 3,000 new buses, including 1,000 e-buses, will be rolled out in the city. "In the last seven-eight years no new buses were added to the public transport system. But, in the coming seven-eight months, 3,000 new buses will be delivered," he said.

The ceremony was also attended by the Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot and Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev. "Who had ever thought that there would be petitions filed against increasing the bus fleet for improving public transport of Delhi ? We had to fight till the Supreme Court, but we are happy that finally the buses are here," said Gahlot.

The 25 new disabled friendly buses are equipped with three CCTV cameras, GPS, and 16 panic buttons.

The lot of 125 buses will be arriving in September and the entire 100 buses will be rolled by end of this year. The vehicles will add to the fleet of 1,679 buses under the cluster scheme of Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS).The chief minister said that the delivery of 1,000 e-buses, being procured by the government, will begin from February.

Roll out of first batch of 385 e-buses is expected in February 2020. The remaining 615 e buses will be procured in next phases, said the official.

The tenders for 1000 low floor air conditioned buses for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) have been floated. The government is also moving to induct 1,000 low floor air conditioned buses under the cluster scheme. The contract of 650 Low Floor buses has already been awarded by the transport department and delivery will start from January 2020.