On Friday, the Delhi cabinet gave an in-principle approval to get 1,000 cluster buses from the successful bidders, which indicates, subject to the permission from the Supreme Court and the Delhi high court anyway.
Manish Sisodia, the Deputy chief minister told, regarding this issue, that due to some cases on acquiring buses were pending in court, the work order for these non AC, standard-size CNG buses can be issued post the courts will pass their approval.
The transport department had sought the cabinet’s nod in order to award the contracts for four clusters anyway.
The cabinet has approved the successful tender for 1,000 buses after a gap of seven years as there was no space for new depots, the deputy CM said.
The new depots have arrives only in the past 3 years around, The government expects the first lot of 251 cluster scheme buses to begin rolling out from September.
This is the proper processes for procuring another 1,000 buses for DTC and 1,000 electric buses that are at advanced stages, added Sisodia further.
Kailash Gahlot, The Transport minister, said the city is required 11,000 buses and the government’s target was around 5,500 buses each for DTC and the cluster scheme anyway.
“These 1,000 buses will be parked in the new depots,” Gahlot said, adding that work was going on to build more depots. The new cluster buses will have safety features such as three IP-based CCTV cameras in each of them and an anti-skid mechanism to stop a bus from toppling while maneuvering sharp turns. “There will also be a panic button after every three seats for passengers and the message will go to a command center,” Gehlot said.
The Delhi government is committed and said to improve the public transport system in the national capital at a reasonably priced price to make sure that the inhabitants can travel safely and in comfort level, the minister added further.
The government will be bearing an estimated operational expenditure of around Rs 276 crore in the first year which is for the engaging the new cluster buses in the city.
The Delhi government, under the cluster scheme, has to bear the viability gap in order to meet the deficit between the actual payment that will be made to the concessionaire and the revenue earned is mainly comes from the fare collection.
At the present, the monthly deficit in operating the cluster buses is about Rs 1.92 lakh per bus.
During the 2017-18 financial year, a budget provision of Rs 400 crore was made to meet the deficit between the payment bring upon yourself to the concessionaires, integrated mechanism fees, conductors’ wages, and fare collection management fees, and the actual amount realized and come from the fare collection.
