The Statesman 30.11.2013
More buses for city under JnNURM
Kolkata, 30 November - Public transport in Kolkata is set to get a boost as 632 new buses will hit the roads soon.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development will release funds to the state under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) scheme.
The buses will be procured in phases up to 31 March 2014. The Union ministry has also asked the state to augment the existing government fleet.
Around 50 vehicles will be procured in the first phase, that will hit city roads this December. All the vehicles will be run by the Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC). A number of low-floored air conditioned buses will also be procured under the scheme. The state Transport Department this time has ruled out a public-private partnership.
This is the second such allocation under the JnNURM scheme. The earlier allocations to states under JnNURM took place in 2009. The urban development ministry had announced in August this year that 10,000 buses would be allocated to states under the JnNURM scheme.
The state Transport Department submitted a detailed project report to the urban development ministry in September this year to procure the vehicles under the JnNURM scheme. Later, a revised project report was placed before the Union ministry.
This time all the buses procured under the scheme will be operated by the state-run transport corporations. State Transport Minister Madan Mitra ruled out any private participation. Earlier, private transport operators had been unable to repay the monthly installments after procuring the buses from the Transport Department. The Centre also raised objections to the state's purchase and funds utilisation procedure after private operators failed to repay the loans.
As per JnNURM norms, the Centre will bear 35 per cent of the cost, while the state will bear the rest. The vehicles have been manufactured by Tata Motors Ltd, Ashok Leyland Ltd and Volvo Buses India Pvt Ltd, which are the key suppliers to the state transport corporations.
