MTC to add 350 buses in coming months – Reports TOI
The Metropolitan Transport Corporation is set to add 350 new buses to its fleet in the next six to nine months – of which 250 will be regular buses and 100 will be air conditioned.
The corporation will get these buses with a little help from the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) programme. While each regular bus costs 56 lakh, an AC bus would cost around 1 crore.
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The cost of the 350 buses comes to 240 crore – of which the Centre will pay 35% or 85 crore. “While there is no doubt Chennai will get the buses, the state has not yet issued the order. It is just a matter of time,” said an official. “The finance department is working on the paperwork to allocate funds in the state budget.”
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In January, the state had asked for around 1,100 buses, including 350 for Chennai, and another 500 replacements. “However, only Chennai got lucky. No other state transport corporation is getting buses from JNNURM in this phase,” said the official. JNNURM does not give funds for replacement of buses.
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Source: Times of India
