DTC passes proposal to procure 1,000 buses

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) board has passed the proposal to procure 1,000 buses on which 500 will be AC and 500 non-AC. "The board has finalised the proposal now the work on the procurement will start and we will bring the matter to the Cabinet too," Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot told the Millennium Post. He also said that in these buses the government would outsource the Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC). "Separate tenders will be issued in this matter of AMC and I hope that we will not face any trouble on this," said Gahlot. The minister also said that the government wanted to buy non-AC buses because there are many passengers who prefer non-AC buses because the tickets are much cheaper.

Earlier, the plans of procurement were hit due as despite the issuance of tenders there were no buyers. According to officials filed by the transport department in the SC, a 2008 tender for 750 non-AC, semi- low-floor buses and 250 AC semi-low-floor buses was cancelled as the rates quoted by Ashok Leyland were on the "higher side".

The DTC has a fleet of 3,944 buses while the DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System) runs 1,634 buses under the cluster scheme, as per the Transport department statistics. The combined strength of around 5,600 buses covers nearly 75 per cent of the identified routes in the city. A total of 799 minibuses also ply on 124 routes.

Last week, The Delhi Cabinet on approved the reimbursement cost of fitting hydraulic lifts in 1,000 standard floor CNG buses, a move aimed at benefitting differently abled people. The buses are being procured by the Delhi government. The government in recent years have been working towards CNG buses and also to bring electric buses. Both the projects got sanction from the Cabinet and the work is on.