Bombay Electric Supply and Transport
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Formerly called
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1873 as Bombay Tramway Company Limited (Horsecar) ---- 1905 as BEST Co. Ltd. Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways (BEST) Company Ltd (Tramways and Electricity) ---- 1947 as BEST Undertaking Bombay Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) (Tramways and Electricity) |
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| Autonomous State-owned enterprise | |
| Industry |
Public transport - Tram (1873 - 1964), Bus (1926 - present) Electricity (1905 - present) |
| Founded | Mumbai (1873) |
| Headquarters | Electric House, Colaba, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
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Key people
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Jagdish Patil, general manager |
| Revenue |
 Rs. 2,353.4 million ($538.7m USD) (2004) |
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Number of employees
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44,000 (2005) |
| Parent | Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai |
| Website | www.bestundertaking.com |
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is the civic transport and electricity provider public body based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Originally set up in 1873 as a tramway company: BrihanMumbai Electric Supply & Tramways Company, the BEST set up a captive Thermal power station at Wadi bunder, Mumbai in November 1905 to generate electricity for its trams that positioned it to also supply electricity to the city of Mumbai. Since 1926, the BEST has been an operator of motor buses. In 1947, a week prior to India gaining independence, the BEST became an undertaking of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It now operates as an autonomous body under the Municipal Corporation.
The Undertaking operates one of India's largest fleets of buses. The bus transport service covers the entire city and also extends its operations outside city limits into neighbouring Thane and Mira-Bhayandar. In addition to buses, it also operates a ferry service in the northern reaches of the city. The electricity division of the organisation is also one of the few electricity departments in India to garner an annual gross profit.
The idea of a mass public transport system for Mumbai was first put forward in 1865 by an American company, which applied for a licence to operate a horse-drawn tramway system. Although a licence was granted, the project was never realised, owing to the prevailing economic depression in the city. The end of the American Civil War, during which Mumbai had made vast strides in its economy by supplying cotton and textiles to the world market, was the reason for the economic downturn.
Later, on 27 November 1871, a notice in the Times of India newspaper put by the Bombay Omnibus Service, proposed to set up a bus service between Malabar Hill and Fort. However, the proposed monthly pass fare of thirty pounds proved to be too expensive, and the tender was promptly abandoned.
The Bombay Tramway Company Limited was formally set up in 1873. After a contract was entered into between the Bombay Tramway Company and the municipality, the Bombay Presidency enacted the Bombay Tramways Act, 1874, under which the Company was licensed to run a Horsecar tramway service in the city. The Horsecar were of two kinds; those drawn by one horse and those drawn by two. In 1905, a newly formed concern, The Bombay Electric Supply & Tramways Company Limited, bought the Bombay Tramway Company and the first electrically operated tram-car appeared on Bombay's roads in 1907. The passing years aggravated the problem of rush-hour traffic and to ease the situation, double decker trams were introduced in September 1920.
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Wikipedia