[sustran] Re: SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed

[ravi gadepalli]

Cities are finding innovative means to bypass the SPV hurdle. 
Kerala can look at the Andhra Pradesh model and see if that can work from them. 
What happens in Andhra is that the JNNURM cities form an SPV for bus operations with APSRTC (the KSRTC equivalent) as the majority stakeholder. 
The municipal corporation, development authority and traffic police are also part of it but have roles specific to their jurisdiction like the corporation constructing bus stops, ITS management by traffic police and so on. The bus operations are still with APSRTC.

In summary there is a new SPV formed, funds claimed from the centre and all agencies continue doing what they do currently. 

Ravi Gadepalli,
iTrans Pvt. Ltd.,
New Delhi.



________________________________
 From: Vinay Baindur <yanivbin at gmail.com>
To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org> 
Sent: Saturday, 2 November 2013 9:30 PM
Subject: [sustran] SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed
 

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true


SPV to run JNNURM buses opposed

S. ANIL RADHAKRISHNAN








The government is gearing up to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for
operating and managing the buses procured with assistance from the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) even as employees
of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have opposed the
move.

Five trade unions, including the Congress-backed Transport Democratic Front
and the CITU-affiliated Kerala State Transport Employees Association, have
opposed the move to create a special business unit within the KSRTC for
operating and managing the JNNURM buses.

The trade union leaders had told Minister for Transport Aryadan Mohammed at
a meeting here on Monday that they were against the move as they feared it
would lead to the bifurcation of the transport utility. Official sources
told *The Hindu* that the Minister had told the leaders that the views
would be communicated to the Cabinet.

Setting up of the SPV is the main condition put forward to the Local
Self-Government Department by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring
Committee (CSMC) on Urban Infrastructure and Governance to get the funds
from the JNNURM.

With this, the government had no option left but to set up an SPV to get
the first tranche of funds for purchasing 400 buses sanctioned to the State
in September under the JNNURM extended scheme.

States which did not set up SPV as directed by the JNNURM opted for
formation of city specific transport undertakings. Kerala also preferred
this option and a special bus unit (SBU) under the KSRTC was mooted in the
Detailed Project Report submitted in August this year.

With opposition from the KSRTC employees, the State will have to set up SPV
on the lines of the Indore model for bus operations. Cities such as Bhopal,
Jabalpur, Ujjain, and Raipur have set up city specific SPVs for operating
bus services.

The CSMC had also asked the State to notify the ‘planning area’ as the
buses to be procured were to be operated to major towns and cities of 12
districts in the State that had been grouped under five clusters.

Official sources said confusion prevailed on whether a single SPV was
needed for the State or separate SPVs were needed for the five clusters
proposed. It has more or less become certain that a separate SPV will be
set up for Kochi and all modes of transport will be integrated.

Compared to the scheme launched in 2008, Intelligent Transport System,
upgrade of depots and installation of central control room will now form
part of the funding. The mission will provide 80 per cent of the cost and
the State will have to bear the rest.

As the 400 new JNNURM buses will have to be operated and managed by the
SPV, the issues of parking the buses, entry into bus depots, and filling of
high speed diesel will also have to be sorted out.

At present, the KSRTC is managing and operating 146 buses plying in
Thiruvananthapuram and 167 in Kochi that have been purchased under the
JNNURM scheme. The two cities were among the 61 JNNURM cities that had
benefited from the one-time Central assistance of Rs.4,700 crore for
purchase of buses.

Keywords: special purpose
vehicle<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true#>
, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true#>
, JNNURM buses<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true#>
, Kerala State Road Transport
Corporation<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/spv-to-run-jnnurm-buses-opposed/article5305358.ece?homepage=true#>
-------------------------------------------------------- 
To search the archives of sustran-discuss visit
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014715651517519735401:ijjtzwbu_ss

================================================================
SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South').