State to procure 1,200 new buses by March-end; Volvos to be phased out

Bengaluru: After a failed attempt to increase bus fares, the State Government may hike fares of buses operated by all the four State-run road Transport Corporations.

At a meeting with the Chief Minister ahead of the Budget, Transport Department officials sought the green signal to increase fares. KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi C. Kalasad yesterday said the government “responded positively” to their request. Officials apprised the Chief Minister on the increase in fuel cost and operational expenditure, because of which all the Corporations are incurring huge losses.

“Due to increased operational cost, which include hike in fuel price over the years, the Corporations are incurring losses in crores. The BMTC alone incurs a loss of Rs. 1 crore per day and all four Corporations incur over Rs. 1,000 crore per year. There has been no revision of fares for the last six years,” Kalasad added. However, the official did not disclose details on when the Government will issue order.

Nearly 30 lakh passengers use the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses and over 40 lakh passengers rely on the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) every day. 

In September 2018, the Department had issued an order allowing the Corporations to increase the fare by 18 percent. However, within a few hours, then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy intervened and directed the department to withhold the order citing that it was against public interest.

New buses to be procured

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who holds the Transport Department portfolio, yesterday, said that a total of 1,200 new buses will be added to the existing fleet of various Government Road Transport Corporations by March. 

Savadi said the Department had planned to add 3,000 buses, but the company which is supplying buses said it needs more time to deliver. “So, by March we will have 1,200 new buses,” he said. He also said the process to procure 400 electric buses is currently on and tenders have already been floated. “We will finalise the agency to supply buses by the end of the month,” Savadi said. 

He said ‘four to five firms’ have shown interest including a Hungarian company. “We have not yet taken a decision on which firm will supply the buses,” he said. He also said that the Department is mulling phasing out Volvo buses from its fleet, owing to their high maintenance cost.