The Hindu                09.10.2013

State to get 400 more buses under JNNURM scheme

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

Mission will provide funds for support infrastructure too

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM) has sanctioned another 400 buses for the State to be operated
under the JNNURM extended scheme.

For the State, it
is a big disappointment, as it had pitched for 1,011 buses at an
estimated cost of Rs.649.55 crore to extend the highly popular low-floor
JNNURM buses to the remaining 12 districts. Since 2009, 313 buses have
been sanctioned for the State. These ply in the State capital and
Ernakulam under the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).

The
State is in receipt of the minutes of the Central Sanctioning and
Monitoring Committee (CSMC) meeting, chaired by Union Urban Affairs
Secretary Sudhir Krishna, in New Delhi on September 26 that cleared the
400 buses for the State, official sources told
The Hindu
. Among the 2,433 buses allotted to six States, Maharashtra has got the
most (900), followed by Kerala and Rajasthan (286). The mission
sanctioned 73 buses for Andhra Pradesh, and 50 each for Chhattisgarh and
Puducherry.

In addition to the purchase of the
buses, the mission will now provide funds to the State for support
infrastructure such as bus depots as it wants to replicate the metro
rail experience on buses to uplift the brand image of public transport
by bus.

The Detailed Project Report for the
procurement of the buses was made by Rajan Khobragade, Secretary (Urban
Affairs), Local Self-government Department, and Kerala Sustainable Urban
Development Project Director U.V. Jose before Mr. Krishna.

The
main hurdle before the State is how to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle
(SPV) for operating and taking care of the buses procured with the
JNNURM assistance.

The KSRTC has hinted that it is ready to hand over the 313 buses to the SPV.

Main condition

Setting
up the SPV is the main condition put forward to the Local
Self-government Department by the CSMC to release the first tranche of
funds to the State under the JNNURM extended scheme.  

The
State had proposed to operate the buses in major towns and cities of 12
districts that were grouped under five clusters for smooth fleet
operation.

A semi-low-floor non-air-conditioned bus
(900-mm long) will cost Rs.30 lakh, semi-low-floor non air-conditioned
bus (650 mm) Rs.40 lakh, and a premium standard air-conditioned bus
Rs.90 lakh.

Compared to the scheme launched five
years ago, intelligent transport system, upgrade of depots, and
installation of central control room will form part of the JNNURM
funding now. The mission will provide 80 per cent of the estimated cost, and the State will have to bear the rest.