Fast lane debut

Patna, May 11: The urban development and housing department might get financial assistance from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco), a financial agency, for procurement of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) buses for Patna and Bodhgaya.

Secretary of the department S. Siddharth told The Telegraph that they would send a proposal to the state government to seek the in-principle approval for procurement of 400 buses for Patna and 60 buses for Bodhgaya with help from the agency. “In case of Patna, 50 per cent of the total cost of these buses would come from JNNURM funds and the rest in the form of a loan from the agency. In Bodhgaya, 80 per cent of the cost would be covered by JNNURM funds, while the remaining cost would be paid using the loan.”

In 2009, the central sanctioning and monitoring committee of JNNURM had approved the purchase of the buses for Patna and Bodhgaya at an estimated cost of Rs 45 crore.

The department had tried to execute the scheme of procurement of buses in public-private partnership mode by inviting bids from private bus operators in June 2009 and February 2010. Under this, the private operator was expected to pay 50 per cent cost of each bus and the Centre the rest. However, both attempts proved futile with the department not receiving any bid.

Last December, the urban development department decided that 50 per cent of the cost of the buses in Patna would come from JNNURM funds and the state would bear the rest. For Bodhgaya, it was decided that JNNURM would fund 80 per cent of the cost and the state would fund the rest.

Though bus operators Ashok Leyland and Tata Motors submitted bids to supply the buses, sources claimed that the state government asked the urban development department to cancel the bids and start the process afresh.

Apart from Patna and Bodhgaya, the department also submitted a proposal with the ministry of urban development to run buses in 10 municipal corporations in Bihar under phase II of the scheme.

The Centre had asked all states to submit their proposals for procurement and operation of buses in the municipal corporations, which were not covered in phase I. A meeting to review the existing bus service under JNNURM’s urban transport scheme and to accept the proposal for more municipal corporations was held at Delhi on Monday.