The Capital’s transport sector has been allocated ₹5,941 crore in the 2020-21 budget, the second-highest allocation for the coming fiscal, with an aim to fulfil Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s guarantee of providing “the largest and cheapest public transport system” in India, Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said, adding that the government had set a target of bringing the total fleet of State-run buses to 11,000, and laying 500 km of Delhi Metro lines.
After a decade
“After a gap of about 10 years, new buses have been added in Delhi’s public transport system…buses with modern CCTV and ‘disabled-friendly lift’ have been included in the fleet for the first time in the country. New low-floor buses have been inducted for the first time since the Commonwealth Games. Altogether 2,485 new buses – 1,300 DTC and 1,185 cluster buses, including 685 electric buses – will be added to the fleet during 2020-21,” Mr. Sisodia added.
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As many as 1,880 buses – 444 DTC and 1,436 cluster buses – will be purchased beginning 2021-22. He added that the government will continue providing free travel aboard buses. “I propose an outlay of ₹250 crore for the purchase of buses by DTC and ₹1,100 crore for gap funding of cluster buses…four depots, in Okhla, Harinagar, Vasant Vihar and Hasanpur. These will probably be the first multilevel depots of their kind in the country,” he said.
Work on additional corridors of Metro Phase III and NCR extensions of 158-km length, he said, had already been commissioned and the remaining work of about 2 kilometres will be completed during this financial year. The government, he said, had approved all six corridors of the metro phase – IV project.
“I propose an outlay of ₹900 crore for Metro Phase-IV project in 2020-21, in addition to ₹1,324 crore in revised estimates for 2019-20 and ₹200 crore released to the DMRC in 2018-19,” Mr. Sisodia said, adding that an outlay of ₹50 crore for the State Electricity Vehicle Fund had also been proposed.
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