In a major fillip to the Kochi Metro Rail Limited’s proposed integrated water transport and its integration with other modes of transport, German development bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) will fund 80 per cent of the Rs.560-crore project of the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) to operate clean fuel metro feeder and city bus services in Kochi.
A sum of Rs.486 crore will be spent on procurement of 783 buses, including 100 electric feeder buses, while the remaining amount will be spent for acquiring CNG-powered buses.
There will be more than 150 air-conditioned buses.
The decision on extending financial assistance to for the Kochi metro feeder projects was taken at the end of a two-day visit by a three-member German delegation, during the course of which they assessed the viability of the projects.
Meanwhile, KURTC aims at rolling out the first lot of feeder buses when the Kochi Metro operations begin by next March. .
KURTC aims at rolling out the first lot of feeder buses when the Kochi Metro operations begin by next March. A proposal has already been submitted for the State government’s approval
N. Bhadranandan,
KURTC Special Officer
