Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government will add 400 electric buses (e-buses) to Mo Bus fleet in urban areas to control air pollution in the state.

Odisha Housing & Urban Development Department Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra informed this while travelling on Mo Bus in Bhubaneswar city yesterday.

Considering the air pollution caused by diesel-run buses in city areas, 400 e-buses will be added to the fleet of Mo Bus under PM e-Bus Sewa scheme, the minister said.

"All buses in the city will be e-buses in the future. There are plans to run 100 Mo buses in Bhubaneswar, 100 in Cuttack, 50 in Sambalpur and 100 in Rourkela," the cabinet minister said.

He visited the electric depot of Mo Bus at Gadakana and held a review meeting with officials of Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT). He emphasised increasing the frequency of buses on busy routes.

At present CRUT is plying 463 buses on 95 routes in the Capital Region (Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Puri) Rourkela, Sambalpur & Berhampur with average ridership of 2.5 lakhs per day.

"The Government of India has awarded Mo Bus as the best urban bus service in last 5 years. Currently, the Mo Buses are plying in 6 towns - Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Berhampur, Rourkela and Sambalpur - in Odisha. We have proposal to extend the Mo Bus service in a few mote towns," said CRUT Managing Director Arun Bothra.