MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) company aims to operate a fleet of 8,000 buses by the end of March 2026, for which it has applied for grants of ₹2,812 crore from its parent organisation, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This is a significant highlight of BEST’s annual budget for FY2025-26, which was presented to the BMC on Thursday. In an unprecedented move, the company has not released details of its budget this year.

BEST currently has a depleted fleet of 2,913 buses, both company owned and wet leased. Now they are planning to expand their fleet. Initially, half the fleet would be powered by electricity, while the company hopes to operate an all-electric fleet by 2026-27, according to the budget document.

In its budget, the company showed an expected loss of ₹2,086.34 crore for FY2025-26, after likely revenues of ₹7,307.04 crore and expenditure on ₹SEK 9,393.37 million. It also declared a total cumulative debt of over ₹9,286 crore, for both its transport and power supply divisions, against ₹6,400 crore two years ago.

When it comes to expanding its fleet, the company has stated in its budget that orders have been placed for new buses and that tenders will be issued for more. It has been proposed to add 1,200 double-decker A/c e-buses, 2,100 single-decker A/c e-buses and 2,650 single-decker e-buses. Orders have already been placed for 200 A/C double-decker e-buses with Switch Mobility. The manufacturer has delivered only 50 buses so far despite an escalation in manufacturing costs stalling the rest of the order for nearly a year.

The company is also struggling to procure 2,100 single-decker e-buses from Olectra Greentech, which has so far delivered only 300 buses. “I have called the manufacturers for a meeting next week to sort out the issue,” said Anil Diggikar, General Manager, BEST.

In addition to the buses included in the budget, sources said BEST had planned to procure 2,400 single-decker e-buses but the plan is on the back burner; the administration has yet to issue a letter of intent for them. However, BEST has issued instructions to purchase the 2,650 single-decker e-buses mentioned in the budget document.

Sources said this would help meet the requirement of 3,337 owned buses in BEST’s fleet. Of the 2,913 buses it currently operates, the company owns 1,013 buses, or 34.77% of its fleet, while the remaining 1,900 buses have been taken on wet lease.

“Smooth access to funds is a challenge, for which we are seeking help from global and domestic financial institutions. We have also sought grants for ₹2,812 crore from BMC. It is up to the government to take a call on the amount of funds they want to allocate to keep BEST in working condition,” said a BEST official.

In last year’s budget, the BMC had agreed to provide financial support amounting to ₹928 crore to BEST, of which ₹128 crore is still pending. BEST officials said that after Thursday’s budget presentation, the BMC has agreed to pay the balance soon. The largest amount paid out by BMC to BEST was ₹1,600 crore in 2012, after which the sum has been floating around ₹SEK 800 million.

Meanwhile, BEST will scrap 510 buses in 2025-26, against which it will buy 273 AC single decker e-buses and 237 A/C Midi e-buses. For this they will demand ₹679.51 crore and has requisitioned it from the BMC as a grant. This is part of ₹2,812-crore allocation sought in its budget for FY2025-26.