Sarnaik Changes previous Stand for demanding cancellation of E-Bus Contract; Says Buses Needed in 'Larger Public Interest'
Mumbai: Less than a week after strongly criticising the company for delaying the supply of 5,150 electric buses on lease to
MSRTC
and demanding the cancellation of the contract, transport minister Pratap Sarnaik made a sudden volte-face on Friday.
He informed the media that "the corporation must receive the supply of e-buses as per the revised schedule.
"
This decision came after a meeting with the wet lease company representatives, additional chief secretary (transport) Sanjay Sethi, and other senior officials on Friday. Sarnaik clarified that he was part of the govt, which continuously strives to provide facilities to passengers. His decision to now direct MSRTC to receive the supply of e-buses as per the revised schedule comes in "the larger interest of passengers who will benefit from these 5,000 plus buses in the long run.
"
It is learnt that the MSRTC signed a contract with the company to supply 5,150 electric buses on lease, of which 220 were delivered to date. These include both 12-metre and 9-metre long buses. The corporation created a department-wise account system to pay the company from the revenue generated by the electric buses. So far, Rs 60 crore was paid to the company, and the remaining Rs 40 crore is planned to be paid soon, sources said.
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Sarnaik told the media that considering the operational losses incurred with the supplied buses, a proposal for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) should be sent to the state govt to secure financial support. "While operating the buses, the corporation is incurring a loss of Rs 12 per kilometre for 12-metre buses and Rs 16 per kilometre for 9-metre buses. As a result, the corporation is expected to bear a loss of Rs 3,191 crore over the next few years," he said, adding that the govt should bear the losses through VGF.
A meeting will be held in this connection (regarding losses and VGF) with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Meanwhile, the existing Shivshahi buses operated by the ST Corporation should be gradually reconstructed and converted into Hirkani (semi-luxury) buses, the minister said. "These buses should be painted in the traditional green and white colours, as they were previously," he added.
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