Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Sunday re-launched the city bus fleet sponsored by Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), ending months of reluctance and promising twin aims of passenger convenience and profit generation.

Ranchi mayor Asha Lakra with other civic body officials formally rolled out a revamped fleet of 20 buses outside the RMC office in Kutchery.

The RMC has outsourced the work of operations and maintenance to city-based KM Associates.

"We have renovated some city buses now. Freshly painted in maroon and white, they have brand new seats and tyres. We have outsourced its day-to-day operations and maintenance to city-based KM Associates," Ranchi mayor Lakra said at the flag-off.

"I am sure bus services will be normal in Ranchi and more and more people will choose bus as preferred mode of transport," she stressed, implying that the problems of the five-year-old city bus service in Ranchi would now be in the past.

In 2010, the Centre gifted 70 city buses to Ranchi under JNNRUM. After a bus got burnt, the capital was left with 69 buses, run by an unwilling Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC).

Shortage of funds and manpower kept plaguing the bus service. Frequently, buses stayed grounded for long periods as unpaid bus staff struck work. Over the years, sustained apathy made the buses dilapidated, with flat tyres, broken windowpanes and torn seats.

A loss-making proposition, the JTDC was in a hurry to hand it over to the RMC, which till recently did not want to take on the responsibility.

But now, the RMC seems hopeful of doing a decent job.

"Initially, we have launched 20 buses of the 69. The other buses are undergoing repairs and will be introduced in batches as and when they were ready," deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya said.

An official added that bus fares would be nominal compared to autos, varying between Rs 5 and Rs 25, depending on the distance covered.

"For first 4km, it is Rs 5. From 5km to 12km, it is Rs 10; from 13km to 18km, Rs 15; from 19km to 25km, Rs 20. Above 26km, it is Rs 25," he said.

He added that KM Associates specialised in running buses, with an experience of over four decades.

"We came forward to run the city bus service in the larger interests of this city with the plan of making it a profit-making service in two-three years," KM Associates owner Kishore Mantri said. "According to terms and conditions we will have to pay the RMC Rs 138 per seat per day."