Municipal Corporation of Gurugram gets land for new bus depot near New Palam Vihar

According to officials of Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), the construction of the depot is expected to be completed in 2019 and may accommodate the first batch of 100 electric AC buses that are due to arrive in the city around that time.

In a major step towards launching a dedicated bus service in the city, the Haryana cabinet, under the chairmanship of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Thursday transferred four acres of vacant government land at Pawla Khusrupur village, near New Palam Vihar, to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) for constructing a new bus depot.

According to officials, the cost of constructing the depot is estimated at ₹12 crore.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The land transfer was announced at the administrative headquarters in Chandigarh on the day.

According to officials of Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), the construction of the depot is expected to be completed next year and may accommodate the first batch of 100 electric AC buses that are due to arrive in the city around that time.

According to officials, the cost of constructing the depot is estimated at ₹12 crore. The expense would be met from the state coffers.

“Four acres of land gives us enough space for accommodating 100-110 buses. We want to thank the state government for giving its nod to our proposal,” Chandra Shekhar Khare, chief executive officer, GMCBL, said.

Bus depots are already under construction in sectors 10, 48 and 53 and they are expected to become operational by August, around the same time when the first batch of 100 buses are expected to be launched in the city.

In total, 500 electric buses will be launched in the city.

“We have studied the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) model. The department is struggling to find space for building new depots to accommodate its growing fleet of buses. Hence, to avoid such a situation, the GMCBL has earmarked nine locations for setting up bus depots in the city. We will need more space to accommodate buses as we expand our network,” a GMCBL official said.

Since the depot will come up on a vacant government land within the MCG’s jurisdiction, the land was transferred to the MCG, the official added.

Both the MCG and GMCBL are constructing bus depots together. The three civic bodies — Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), MCG, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) — will be the stakeholders in the project, with their individual shares being 50%, 40%, and 10% respectively.

City takes transport leap

Bus depots are already under construction in sectors 10, 48 and 53. Two more sites, Pawla Khusrupur village and Sector 72, have been identified. Four acres of land in Pawla Khusrupur have been transferred to the MCG

Each bus depot will be able to accommodate 100 to 110 buses

The dedicated public bus service in Gurugram is expected to be launched on August 15

GMDA, MCG, and HSIIDC are the stakeholders in the project with shares of 50 %, 40%and 10 % respectively

Once the bus service is up and running, it is expected to record an estimated daily ridership of more than 3 lakh passengers

The bus depots are being built on the basis of a public-private partnership (PPP) model.