Goldstone Infratech delivers 4 e-buses to BEST

Goldstone Infratech, the joint-venture between China-based BYD Company, the manufacturer of automobiles, buses, forklifts, rechargeable batteries, trucks, among others and Goldstone Group has delivered four K7 pure-electric buses to the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). The company had won an order to deliver six pure electric buses to the state transport.

The Hyderabad-based Goldstone Group forayed into electric mobility in November, 2016 when it announced its move to assemble electric buses in partnership with BYD. It has been testing its e-bus in various parts of the country - Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Rajkot. It delivered its first batch of e-buses to the Himachal Pradesh State Transport where its ebuzz K7 will ply on the Kullu-Manali-Rohtang pass route. The buses cost Rs 1.61 crore each.

The non-ac e-buses plying on Mumbai bus have a capacity of 31+1 (seating and driver). According to BEST the buses will run on existing routes with the ticket costs continue to remain the same as the existing fares and no premium would be charged to the consumers.

According to Goldstone the buses have a range of 200km per charge and will provide substantial saving to the transport department. It operates at a cost of Rs8 per km compared to CNG Rs 15km and Diesel Rs 20km. The charging time is claimed to be 3-4 hours for full charge using fast charger, that has been installed at the Backbay depot.

According to BEST spokesperson in 2015 the state transport had allotted a budget of Rs 10 crore for purchasing the electric buses for the financial capital.