New Delhi: To accommodate a growing public transport fleet of electric buses, the Delhi government plans to electrify around 50 bus depots by the end of the year, officials familiar with the matter said.Delhi currently operates one of India’s largest electric bus networks with a fleet of over 4,000 e-buses. (Hindustan Times)Officials said that around 50 of Delhi’s 83 bus depots will be fully electrified by year-end, and civil and electrical infrastructure work is currently underway at five to six depots. The project aims to ensure infrastructure preparedness for the e-buses being procured under phases 1 and 2 of the Centre’s PM e-Drive scheme, they added.Delhi currently operates one of India’s largest electric bus networks with a fleet of over 4,000 e-buses. An additional 1,000 buses are likely to join the fleet by year-end, officials said.Officials said around 35 depots have been electrified so far.Electrifying a depot involves installing charging infrastructure, augmenting power supply systems, transformers, charging bays, and parking facilities required to operate large e-bus fleets.A transport department official said the government is working on a phased plan to ensure depot readiness before the e-buses arrive under the upcoming procurement cycles.“Depot electrification is being taken up in parallel with bus procurement so there is no delay in operational deployment once buses arrive. The target is to have around 50 depots electrified by the end of the year. Work is already ongoing at multiple depots,” the official said.According to officials, the new e-bus fleets aim to replace ageing CNG buses while increasing the overall fleet size. In recent announcements, the Delhi government stated that the Capital is targeting the induction of over 5,000 electric buses by March 2026. Officials said around 4,000 have been inducted so far, and the remaining 1,000 will be inducted by year-end.Officials added that over 2,800 electric buses, including 12-metre and 9-metre low-floor buses equipped with GPS, CCTV cameras, panic buttons and other passenger safety systems, are being added under the PM e-Drive scheme. Delhi currently operates one of India’s largest electric bus networks with a fleet of over 4,000 buses.The government also announced plans to transition to a fully electric public bus fleet over the coming years. Officials said depot electrification is central to that transition because charging infrastructure remains one of the key operational requirements for scaling up electric bus deployment.