Delhi is set to retire its entire fleet of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses by August 2031, with only electric buses being added to the city’s public transport system, the government informed Parliament on Monday, according to a report by TNN.
Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Tokhan Sahu, citing details shared by the Delhi government, told the Rajya Sabha that the transition plan covers both Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster buses.
Delhi currently operates 5,691 buses, including electric ones. Of these, 3,203 are run by the transport department, while 2,488 belong to private operators under the Cluster scheme. “The Government of NCT of Delhi has reported that the ratio of buses to be provided by DTC and private Clusters should be 50:50 of a total fleet of 11,000 buses,” Sahu said.
Out of the total fleet, 2,743 are CNG buses — 993 under DTC and 1,750 under Cluster operators. These will be phased out in a staggered manner by August 2031.
According to the minister’s written reply, all CNG buses older than 10 years will be retired by 2026-27 in the case of DTC, while private Cluster CNG buses will be phased out entirely by 2031. Notably, most of DTC’s low-floor CNG buses were procured ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
Sahu added that all new Cluster buses are being inducted under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model. Over the past five years, neither the Centre nor the Delhi government has allocated funds to DTC for the purchase of new CNG buses, underscoring the shift towards electric mobility.
The move is part of the capital’s broader clean mobility push, with the government targeting a fully electric fleet in public transport within the next decade.>
