MSRTC to buy 25,000 buses over five years: Minister

Mumbai, Jan 27 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will buy 5,000 buses every year for the next five years totalling 25,000, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said on Monday.

He said these buses would be owned by the state-run corporation.

Sarnaik said state finance minister Ajit Pawar has given in-principle approval to the MSRTC's proposal for buying buses over the next five years at a review meeting for fiscal 2025-26.

With the nod from the finance ministry, MSRTC will have a fleet of 30,000 buses, including 5,000 e-buses, by 2029, enabling it to provide bus service to every village in Maharashtra.

The transport minister said MSRTC currently operates a fleet of 14,300 buses, and 10,000 of them are over 10 years old, which would be scrapped over the next three to four years, creating the need for new buses for self-sufficiency.

"Deputy CM and finance minister Ajit Pawar immediately approved the MSRTC's proposal to buy 5,000 buses every year and 25,000 in the next five years under a five-year plan, considering the urgency," Sarnaik stated.

Meanwhile, Sarnaik told a Marathi news channel that he came to know about the MSRTC fare revision decision only after media persons informed him.

The Maharashtra State Transport Authority (STA) approved a 14.95 per cent hike in MSRTC bus fares from midnight (January 24/25), an official said on Friday.

Sarnaik said a committee headed by the transport secretary is authorised to revise MSRTC fare under section 68 (2) of Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules 1988, and accordingly, the fare was revised in the committee's January 23 meeting.

Sarnaik said he had taken the responsibility of the "bitter" fare revision decision.

Several opposition leaders, including NCP MP Supriya Sule, have criticised the fare hike and expressed surprise over Sarnaik's statement in the media that he was unaware of the decision until the next day. PTI KK NSK

Source: PTI