BEST Rolls Out 17 New Electric Buses and Routes - Details Inside

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has added 17 new electric buses to its fleet. The 12-metre-long buses were officially launched on Saturday and began service on Sunday, September 7. Some of these buses are operating on a newly introduced route that runs along the Coastal Road.

The new buses have been manufactured by Mumbadevi Mobility Private Limited, a company based in Nagpur. According to officials, the vehicles will be operated from the Oshiwara depot in the western suburbs. The fleet was inaugurated by IAS officer Asheesh Sharma, who also serves as BEST’s general manager, at the Colaba depot.

BEST also started a new air-conditioned route, A-84, on Sunday. The route connects Oshiwara depot to Dr Shyamaprasad Mukherji Chowk (Museum). It travels through Worli and Marine Drive along the Coastal Road and halts at four additional points. In a post on X, BEST announced the new service.

AC bus route A-84 started from today between Oshiwara Depot and Dr.Shyamaprasad Mukherji Chowk(Museum) with new #PMI EV buses. This route will ply via Coastal road from Worli to Marine drive and halt at 4 new stops. #bestupdates pic.twitter.com/llAEhj6xGT

— BEST Bus Transport (@myBESTBus) September 7, 2025

BEST has announced that the route 22Ltd will ply with EV AC buses and will operate as route A-22 between Majas depot and Pydhonie from Wednesday, September 10. However, it is unclear if the route will use the new buses.

The new buses come with several modern features. These include a public address system, charging points for laptops and smartphones, and other facilities for passengers.

As of now, BEST has a fleet of 2,711 buses. Out of these, 2,293 are operated on a rental basis. Among the rented buses, 1,225 run on CNG, while 1,068 are electric. This means more than half of the hired buses are CNG-powered, and the rest are electric.

In 2023, BEST had floated a tender for 250 more electric buses under its fleet electrification programme. By August, more than 50 of them had been delivered. But many could not be used for over three months due to the absence of charging stations.

Currently, BEST has more than 1,000 electric buses in operation. These include 50 double-decker buses. All of them are run on a wet lease model, where the operator provides drivers, fuel, and maintenance.