Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will replace 407 buses in the state capital with electric buses. 

On Thursday, finance minister Thomas Isaac allotted Rs 1,000 crore for KSRTC.  This was the 10th budget in the state presented by the MLA.

The KSRTC buses attached to five depots in the city limits will switch over to electric buses as announced in the 2019-2020 budget. The five depots are Thiruvananthapuram city, Pappanamcode, Vikas Bhavan, Vellanad and Peroorkada.

The finance minister has also announced 10 lakh electric vehicles by 2022.

In order to cut down pollution and promote electric vehicles, the state government decided to use only e-buses for city transportation. 

Earlier, outgoing chairman and managing director (CMD) of KSRTC Tomin J Thachankary said these 407 buses would be sent to rural limits for transportation. 

The KSRTC is also operating ten electric buses. The capital city is planning to introduce 1,000 electric buses in 2020 as part of the Electric Vehicle Mobility Policy. The KSRTC plans to produce batteries and electric motors.

Kerala automobiles has already started manufacturing electric auto-rickshaws on an experimental basis. It has started a discussion with a Swiss company to build electric buses.

As per reports, petrol and diesel auto-rickshaws will be phased out and city roads will have electric auto-rickshaws in the future.