3000 new buses to hit roads in TN, 625 electric buses for MTC from July!!
For the procurement of 3000 new buses that include 746 CNG buses, tenders would be floated. This was mentioned by Mr. S.S. Sivashankar, transport minister.
The minister later spoke about how the government has planned to procure 11907 new buses through the funding from the German finding agency KfW, the World Bank, the special area development programme and the TN state government. It is learnt that 3778 new buses have already been inducted into the fleet and 3468 new buses would be added to the fleet by March 2026.
Breakup of the procurement:
The transport minister Mr. S.S. Sivashankar later explained that the state government announced the procurement of a total of 5000 new buses for Rs 2401 crores from 2022-23 to 2024-25. He added that as many as 3210 buses were added to the fleet and the remaining would be added soon. As many as 552 low floor buses would be added to the fleet of the KfW. A tender has been floated for the procurement of as many as 1614 diesel buses and 500 electric buses.
Important piece of information is that under the World Bank funded scheme MTC or Metropolitan Transport Corporation would get 1225 electric buses under the GCC or Gross Cost Contract basis. From July month 2025, MTC will get as many as 625 electric buses in the first phase. It is learnt that a tender has been floated to procure 600 more buses in the second phase.
It is noteworthy that under the GCC model private company would be paid a fixed cost per km of bus operation and it would employ the driver and also maintain the bus. The bus route would be specified by the MTC and it would appoint conductors.
The chief minister of TN has also ordered the procurement of another 300 buses in 2025 that include 746 CNG fuelled buses to combat air pollution. In the coming years, a total of 8129 new buses would be added. In addition to the 11907 buses, the transport dept would also procure as many as 9161 new buses. It included 7661 diesel or CNG or compressed natural gas buses and 1500 electric buses under the KfW in different phases.
