The Hindu Business Line : Bid to check pollution — Gujarat ropes in PSUs to fund purchase of CNG buses

WITH the finances of most State road transport corporations in doldrums, Gujarat has found a novel route to fund the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative of its own road transport entity.

The profit-making public sector companies in the State have been asked to purchase CNG buses for the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) as part of their efforts to protect the environment.

Accordingly, five Gujarat PSUs, including Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) and Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), have contributed nearly Rs 10 crore to purchase 65 CNG buses for the GSRTC.

"The buses would be on the account of the PSU concerned and would be leased to us. As they would continue to have the ownership rights over the buses, they would be free to advertise or put any slogan on their buses," GSRTC Chairman and State Principal Secretary (Transport), Mr Ravi Saxena, told Business Line on Tuesday.

While GSPC, GMB and GMDC would buy 15 CNG buses each, Gujarat Narmada Fertiliser Company and Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation would chip in with 10 buses each, Mr Saxena said.

In addition, GSRTC would also purchase 15 CNG buses in an effort to bring down air pollution caused by vehicular traffic. Ahmedabad has been rated as one of the most polluted cities in the country with the highest respirable suspended particulate matter levels in the country.

The first service of CNG buses between the State capital Gandhinagar and commercial capital Ahmedabad was flagged off by the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, on Monday. The State Government has provided a Rs 188-crore special grant to add 1,600 diesel buses to modernise the ageing fleet of GSRTC.

As many as 5,000 buses will be purchased in the next five years, Mr Saxena said. "The ideal fleet size for GSRTC is about 8,500. We have also undertaken a major re-furbishing drive to get off-road vehicles back into the active fleet. In the last few months, over 250 off-road buses have been brought back into service at a cost of about Rs 7 crore," Mr Saxena said.

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Bid to check pollution — Gujarat ropes in PSUs to fund purchase of CNG buses