Orders for buying 11,185 buses have been placed by the States under the one-time economic measure of funding of buses by the Ministry of Urban Development under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The Government has sanctioned purchase of 15,260 buses for the different mission cities.
Maharashtra has placed orders for 2,230 buses, the highest among the States, followed by Delhi and Tamil Nadu with orders for 1,600 buses each. The lot would consist of AC low-floor, non-AC low-floor, semi low-floor buses and mini buses.
Andhra Pradesh has placed an order for 1,540 buses for four cities of Hyderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada and Vishakhapatnam. Of this, 1,000 buses are for Hyderabad alone. The Uttar Pradesh order is for 1,350 buses and Uttrakhand 145 buses. West Bengal has finalised its order for 1,300 units, Kerala for 320, Madhya Pradesh for 175, Chhatisgarh for 100, Jharkhand for 240, Rajasthan for 400 and Manipur for 25 units.
Under the second stimulus package announced by the Government on January 2 last, it was decided that the States would be provided assistance under JNNURM for the purchase of buses in the form of grant. The financing is meant exclusively for city bus service and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for all mission cities. The funding is shared by the Centre, the States and the municipal bodies. The size of the Central allocation depends on the population density of the recipient mission cities.
