The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has drawn up a plan for the implementation of the RS 18,000 crore scheme that was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in last year’s budget to mainly increase bus transport in Tier 2 and 3 cities.
A two-ministry official aware of the matter said the plan has been shared for inter-ministerial consultations. It will be implemented under the PPP model, i.e., the Public-Private Partnership model.
States will take the help of private concessionaries for bus services. The concessionaire will have to provide the buses and take responsibility for their maintenance and operation.
The plan would include aggregate cost contracts, in which a fixed amount would be provided to private concessionaires for services for a specified period.
“The concessionaire will be paid on a per kilometer basis.The plan is in the preliminary stage. It will be finalized based on the inputs we get during the consultation process,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
The scheme aims to improve infrastructure in smaller towns, which either do not have an organized public bus transport or are inadequate. A second official said private concessionaires would be allowed to operate CNG or diesel buses.
These will not be electric buses, as providing charging infrastructure,
etc., will be a challenge in these cities, where basic bus transport infrastructure is either missing or inadequate.
The motive of the scheme is to provide essential public buses transport services, based on the inputs received from various stakeholders; we will finalize the plan- said by another official on a condition of not revealing the name.
In January, convergence Energy Services Limited under the Ministry of Power and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services floated a tender worth Rs 5,500 crore for the purchases of 5,580 single-deckers and 130 double-decker e-buses for Delhi, Bengaluru, Surat, Hyderabad, and Kolkata in the first phase.
Amit Bhatt, an executive director, WRI India, said there is a need for a national bus funding scheme to cover the deficit in public transport. He cited a study by WRI India last year and said that it found that there is a need to commission 585.000 buses in the country by 2031, which will include 246,000 new or additional buses, Bhatt said.
In terms of operations, close to 5,000 crore kilometres will be operated in urban areas where bus agencies require financial assistance to drive buses. Therefore, a national bus funding scheme is of utmost importance for the sustainable development of our cities.
The program should leverage private sector participation in providing high-quality bus service.
Published By: Jaspreet Singh
Edited By: Kritika Kashyap
