Mumbai, April 22 -- The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply Transport (BEST) Undertaking is seeking to deploy 9-metre-long CNG buses to run alongside its existing fleet of 12-metre-long electric buses (e-buses) in the city. The transport body's move comes on the back of two accidents in Bhandup - one in December, when four people were mowed down outside Bhandup station when the driver of a 12-metre-long e-bus failed to manoeuvre it on the crowded street, and another on Sunday when a driverless bus rolled backwards and crashed into a booth outside the railway station. BEST has decided to procure 500 9-metre-long CNG air conditioned buses which can be easily manoeuvred in narrow and overcrowded areas, such as the road outside Bhandup station. Apart from Bhandup, the buses will operate in Powai, Vikhroli and Kanjurmarg, as well as address the last mile connectivity to and from metro stations. "We have prepared a proposal to procure 500 AC buses running on CNG. 9-metre-long, they will be ideal for operating on narrow and hilly roads in parts of eastern suburbs such as Vikhroli, Bhandup, Kanjurmarg, Powai," said a BEST official. The proposal emphasised on the difficulty in manoeuvring the larger buses on routes 605 and 606 (Bhandup). There are 625 midi buses (9 metres long) run by wet-lease operators and 37 of the same size running as yellow coloured non-AC Tejaswini buses currently. BEST-owned midi buses were phased out in November 2025. Sonia Sethi, general manager, BEST, said: "While we earlier wanted 200 more CNG midi buses, we have augmented its numbers to 500 as we also want to address the issue of last mile connectivity from existing and upcoming Metro rail stations. The proposal is currently being evaluated." People in the know of things at BEST said the transport body will require another 315 midi buses for last mile connectivity from Metro stations under operation. "Private players have already entered the market and we cannot wait anymore. Moreover as these smaller buses will be easy to handle we are preparing the proposal. The buses could be either procured for wet-lease operation or be BEST-owned, for which we will get funding and subsidy from the government or ask the BMC, state and Centre to provide financial grants," said the official. BEST Committee members however said the biggest impediment facing them is raising funds as they require a minimum of Rs.40-50 lakh for each bus. "We are already paying huge sums of interest on loans taken from financial institutions. The government agencies and even BMC has more or less finalised the budget for this financial year. So the administration needs to be aptly clear on the financial model to get these buses," said BJP leader and BEST member, Sunil Ganacharya. The BEST chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao believes ideally all 500 buses should be procured as BEST-owned. "The BMC should accept the fact that BEST is part of its entity. We have written to the BMC, spoken to the chairman of the Standing Committee and met deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis about reviving the financial condition of BEST. The meetings ended on a positive note. We have informed BMC that the Rs.1000 crore allocation made in the budget for BEST is inadequate," said Vishwasrao. BEST is aiming to increase its present fleet of 2700 buses to 5,000 this financial year. This will be possible only if its parent organisation - BMC -- accepts its fresh request for a one-time aid of Rs.4,000 crore, and if bus manufacturers deliver on deadline. The undertaking has approached the Ministry of Heavy Industries seeking 1500 e-buses that will arrive in phases....