Design for multi-level bus parks in Delhi okayed; tenders soon

The tenders for construction of the Hari Nagar depot will be opened this week and construction is expected to begin in the next two months

NBCC India Limited, a central public sector enterprise under the housing and urban affairs ministry, has finalised the designs for the multi-level bus parking depots proposed in Vasant Vihar and Hari Nagar, reputed to be the first in the country, following a meeting last week with Delhi’s transport minister.

An artist’s impression of the bus depot at Vasant Vihar.

Tenders for the Hari Nagar depot will be opened this week, with construction set to begin within the next two months. Both bus parking lots will have space for more than 700 buses.

Meanwhile, the Vasant Vihar depot hit a snag after design changes were required because the previously designed commercial spaces must now be removed. According to officials, the façade will remain the same, but bus parking bays will be added instead of the planned shop spaces.

“The Hari Nagar depot tenders will be opened now, and we will have a contractor on board within a couple of months to begin construction. Design changes have also been made for the Vasant Vihar depot, and we are in the process of retendering soon,” said a senior NBCC official aware of the development.

Both multi-level bus depots were initially planned on a self-sustaining model, with large commercial spaces and bus parking areas. The revenue from the sale of shop spaces was supposed to cover the cost of building the depots. While the plan for Hari Nagar remains the same, this model cannot be applied to Vasant Vihar because the land has been leased to the transport department by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) solely for the depot. Therefore, the government cannot sell or sublease any commercial space on this property.

According to officials, the government will now use the proceeds from selling another land parcel to fund the Vasant Vihar depot.

The Hari Nagar depot is being built on 6.22 acres for approximately ₹366.51 crore and will have five levels, including a basement, ground, two floors, and a terrace. In addition, it will have 389 bus parking spaces and approximately 200,000sqft commercial space. The revenue from commercial space sales is expected to be ₹390 crore, with a net profit of ₹23 crore, said officials familiar with the matter.

The Vasant Vihar depot will span five acres and feature seven floors, including a basement, ground floor, four floors, and a terrace. It can accommodate 437 buses. The approximate cost will be determined after making the design changes, said officials. The basement at both depots will be used for car parking for depot staff and vehicles visiting the commercial area, while bus parking will be available on the terrace.

Officials said construction will take two and a half years, with both depots expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Read: Delhi expected to get 100 more electric buses by April

“Both depots are designed to international standards and will use sustainable energy solutions to power them. They will have electric charging stations, washing pits, and vibration isolation technology to reduce the impact of heavy buses parked on top of each other,” a transport department official said.

The official added that depot space is already limited and that with the transportation department acquiring more buses for Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster operations, more depots are needed. Within two months, the department will receive a new batch of approximately 1,500 buses, including e-buses. “The multi-level depots will be able to use vertical space without acquiring more land or crowding the buses at existing depots,” said the transport official.

The transport department currently has 63 bus depots, including 23 for cluster buses and 40 for DTC buses. These depots house 7329 buses, including 4,010 DTC buses and 3,319 cluster buses.

The Delhi government first proposed multi-level bus parking last year, and NBCC was made the nodal execution agency. Tenders for the construction of both depots were floated in March this year.