The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved the purchase of 1,100 more buses for the Delhi Transport Corporation. This purchase is over and above the procurement of 625 non-air-conditioned low-floor CNG buses which had earlier been approved of.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that to provide a reliable, punctual, comfortable and dependable public transport service in the Capital, the fleet of DTC buses is being augmented. She said there was an urgent need to replace 1,886 standard floor buses which have outlived their service years.
The plying of such buses is not only causing loss to the DTC but also affecting its image, Ms. Dikshit said, adding that the Government is thus keen to replace them with new ones.
It was stated that DTC would procure 1,100 standard floor, 900-mm, fully-built CNG buses for its city service fleet. The buses will be purchased with maintenance contract for 750,000 km or 12 years, whichever is later.
For the purchase of these buses, a global tender will be floated and they are expected to cost around Rs.330 crore. The buses will be procured through global tender.
At present, DTC has a fleet strength of 5,667 buses out of which 3,781 are modern low-floor buses which have been purchased over the past five year. The remaining 1,886 buses are obsolete, and hence not dependable. Apart from these, 316 buses are plying under the cluster scheme in five of the 17 approved clusters.
Ms. Dikshit expressed hope that with the purchase of 1,725 non-AC buses by the next financial year, DTC will be able to expand its services to cover even the remotest parts of Delhi.
Purchase over and above the procurement of 625 non-AC low floor buses approved earlier
Bid to provide reliable, punctual, comfortable, public transport in the Capital: Sheila
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