In a boost to urban transport, the central government is all set to announce a new scheme for the expansion of public buses in the country soon. The new scheme will provide Rs 18,000 crore financial support for the next fiver years to augment public transport system across India. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman first announced this scheme during the Union Budget 2021. “A new scheme will be launched at a cost of ₹18,000 crore to support augmentation of public bus transport services,” she said.
“We will work towards raising the share of public transport in urban areas through expansion of Metro rail network and augmentation of city bus service. The scheme will facilitate deployment of innovative PPP models to enable private sector players to finance, acquire, operate and maintain over 20,000 buses,” Sitharaman said while presenting the Budget.
“The scheme will also boost the automobile sector, provide fillip to economic growth, she further added. Apart from better connectivity, this scheme will also create employment opportunities for the youth and enhance ease of mobility for urban residents.
Two new technologies — ‘MetroLite’ and ‘MetroNeo’ will be deployed in in tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of tier-1 cities to boost connectivity at a lower cost. This will provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience compared to conventional Metro Rail present at the cities, convenience and safety to a large number of commuter.
Union Budget also proposed central counterpart funding to Kochi Metro Railway Phase II of 11.5 km at a cost of ₹1,957.05 crore, Chennai Metro Railway Phase II of 118.9 km at a cost of ₹63,246 crore.
Besides, the government will also provide such funding to Bengaluru Metro Railway Project Phase 2A and 2B of 58.19 km at a cost of ₹14,788 crore, Nagpur Metro Rail Project Phase-II and Nashik Metro at a cost of ₹5,976 crore and ₹2,092 crore, respectively.
A total of 702 km of conventional Metro lines were in operation and 1,016 km of Metro and Regional Rapid Transit System lines were under construction in 27 cities, finance minister said during Budget 2021.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.
Comments
0 comment