Shillong, June 29: The Meghalaya government has initiated steps to operate buses procured under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

After the January 25 cabinet meeting, another high-level meeting was held yesterday to speed up the deployment of buses at the earliest.

Though July 16 has been tentatively fixed for starting the bus service, the officials of the transport department today said they are trying to work out an earlier date.

Of the 120 buses proposed for the state under JNNURM, 40 have already been procured and 10 are on their way. The remaining buses will also be procured shortly.

In the meeting that was held yesterday, the transport and urban department fixed the routes and the bus fares.

Transport minister A.T. Mondal said there is a great demand to roll out more buses, since taxi is the primary mode of transport.