Delhi govt issues letters for procurement of 500 buses

NEW DELHI: With the Delhi high court’s green signal to the state government for buying more buses, decks are now cleared for the national capital to get 3,000 new state-run buses to its depleting fleet, the first time after 2011.

Hours after the high court allowed the state government to purchase 500 standard-floor buses, the transport department issued letters of acceptance (Loas) to two bidders for buying the buses. These buses will come fitted with hydraulic lifts for easy access to differently abled people and are likely to be rolled out in batches starting March next year.

On October 5, after the Supreme Court’s permission, the Delhi government had placed an order of 500 standardfloor CNG buses, which will also come with hydraulic lifts. After issuing Loas for the remaining 500 buses on Monday, the Delhi government’s procurement process of 1,000 buses under the cluster scheme is complete.

Apart from these 1,000 buses, the court’s clearance will now also allow the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to go ahead and buy another 1,000 buses.

“After Monday’s order, not only 1,000 buses under cluster scheme will be there on the roads, but the DTC will also be able to float a fresh tender for another 1,000 buses. Besides, the plan of getting 1,000 electric buses, under the cluster model, has already been approved. The roll out of these electric buses is likely to begin from June 2019. So, in total 3,000 new buses will be added to Delhi’s public transport network next year,” said a senior transport official, adding that the buses will be inducted in phases.

Welcoming the HC’S verdict, transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the order would pave the way for the government to aug-

Electric

standard floor CNG

ment Delhi’s bus fleet at the earliest. At present, Delhi has a fleet of about 5,561 buses even though the requirement is of 11,000 buses. Buses were last added to the city’s fleet in 2011 under the cluster scheme.

Reacting to the HC’S judgment on Monday, transport commissioner Varsha Joshi said the government would purchase only low-floor buses in the future. “The electric buses are low-floor buses. In the future, the government will only buy low-floor buses keeping in mind the needs of the disabled,” she said.

Shortage of buses Shortage of buses to be bought on jointownership basis

SONU MEHTA/HT PHOTO The government said even if they procure 2,000 standardfloor buses, the percentage of lowfloor buses in the fleet would still be 50.9%.