The bus terminal at Bankipore

The city would soon boast of a swanky inter-state bus terminal.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday approved the development of the 26-acre terminal. To be built on Patna-Gaya road at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, it would comprise a commercial complex, waiting lounge, food court and parking lots for taxis and autorickshaws.

S. Siddharth, secretary, urban development and housing, said: “The decision was taken during a departmental review meeting headed by Nitish Kumar today (Thursday). The proposed bus stand, to be built on the lines of inter-state bus terminals in Delhi and Chennai, would allow movement of 3,000 buses daily.”

According to sources, the terminal would act as a transit point for buses plying from Patna to destinations within the state, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal among others.

“The project would be executed in the state-funded mode, but would be subject to cabinet approval. Its completion would take over 30 months from the date the project takes off,” said a senior official of the department.

Sources said the city buses would operate from the proposed terminal only.

The existing bus depot of the city is at Bankipore on the north of Gandhi Maidan. The transport department renovated it spending Rs 5.4 crore in the past two years.

The urban development and housing development has to procure 400 buses for the city under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Sources said the buses could be procured and operated under a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to be formed by the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation. Funds were sanctioned under the JNNURM scheme for procurement of buses for Patna and Bodhgaya (a nagar panchayat) in 2009, but no progress has been made yet.

The urban development and housing department would form another SPV to run the city service buses in the 11 municipal corporations. The department has submitted a proposal with the urban development ministry to run buses in 10 municipal corporations under Phase II of JNNURM. The PMC has been excluded from the list because its funds arrived earlier.