City residents’ long wait for a local bus service may soon be over as the Punjab Transport Department is working to roll out 180 electric buses by the next financial year.

On the instructions of the transport department, the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC) had hired a Delhi-based consultant in April this year to prepare a project report.

Working on a feasibility study, the consultant, after also mapping out routes, is expected to submit a report by the end of this month.

“We have proposed to introduce 180 electric buses in Mohali city. Once we receive the report, we will seek approval from the state government. The budget will be finalized based on the report, as each electric bus costs approximately ₹1.25 crore,” said a senior PMIDC officer.

Over the past decade, Mohali has experienced significant growth, with the development of several new sectors, increasing the demand for a local bus service covering its entire length and breadth.

With no local bus service in Mohali, residents of the city currently depend on the services of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) which serves Mohali on limited routes.

Over the past decade, the civic body has made several unsuccessful attempts to launch the project. Finally, in April last year, the state government handed over the project to the state transport department, following which the PMIDC initiated a feasibility study.

Stuck in the slow lane for a decade

The proposal for a city bus service in Mohali was initially mooted in 2012, with the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MC) planning to operate buses on 14 routes.

In 2016, MC also passed a resolution to start a bus service. However, the Punjab local government department did not grant approval even though the civic body had allocated a budget of ₹2 crore and planned to operate 50 buses on selected routes in the first phase.

In June 2017, Jasbir Singh, the then district transport officer, had identified these routes and submitted a draft proposal for approval to the Punjab Regional Transport Office (RTO), but nothing moved on the ground.

Two years later, in December 2019, deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan wrote to the director of local bodies seeking approval for the local bus service.

In November 2021, MC approved a proposal that the bus service would be operated by a private company in exchange for advertising rights. The plan included eight routes within MC limits, but it never saw the light of day.

Around a decade ago, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) had also finalized the bus service routes, but the project was later shelved.

Local MP Kulwant Singh said, “When I was mayor, we had approved the budget and even the routes were finalized. We hope the buses will be operational soon. Initially, more than 100 buses will be introduced in the first phase, which will provide relief to the residents of Mohali, who are currently completely dependent on the CTU bus service. Residents have been waiting for this service for many years.