Pune civic body to purchase 50 medium-sized AC buses

Standing committee approved Rs13.47 crore for purchasing 50 new medium-sized air conditioned buses. The price of each bus is Rs26.95 lakh, says standing committee chairman Hemant Rasne

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will purchase 50 medium-sized buses to keep its promise of starting an AC bus service for just Rs10 in crowded areas.

PMC will purchase these buses and hand them over to the PMPML for operations. The bus ticket for these buses would be Rs10. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

Standing committee chairman Hemant Rasne said, “Standing committee approved Rs13.47 crore for purchasing 50 new medium-sized air conditioned buses. The price of each bus is Rs26.95 lakh.”

Rasne said, “While presenting the 2019-20 budget, I introduced the scheme to start the bus service at the cost of Rs10 in the core areas of the city. Most of the old city areas are crowded and with narrow roads. Regular PMPML buses cannot ply on these routes, hence, we decided to purchase medium-sized buses.”

PMC will purchase these buses and hand them over to the PMPML for operations. The bus ticket for these buses would be Rs10. “We are sure that this bus service will help bring down traffic problems in the city,” he said.

The standing committee of the PMC had given nod for this proposal on February 16. With the elected members’ nod, the administration will now start the process of procuring these buses. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to start this bus facility in the next three-four months considering the upcoming municipal elections this year.