[sustran] No franchisee system for JNNRUM-funded buses: WB govt

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/no-franchisee-system-for-jnnrum-funded-buses-wb-govt-113102900837_1.html

*No franchisee system for JNNRUM-funded buses: WB govt*
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Press Trust of India  |  Kolkata  October 29, 2013 Last Updated at 17:58 IST


Having burnt its fingers earlier over franchising government buses to
private operators, the West Bengal Transport Department has decided to do
away with the franchisee system for buses procured under the JNNURM scheme
and would operate these by its own corporations.

"We will be sending a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Ministry for
Urban Development in New Delhi tomorrow seeking over 650 buses for Kolkata
metropolitan area and 100 more for Siliguri and Jalpaiguri," transport
secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay told PTI here today.

"All buses for the metropolis will be operated by Calcutta State Transport
Corporation, a West Bengal government undertaking," he said.

The JNNURM buses for Siliguri and Jalpaiguri and also for the Darjeeling
would be run by North Bengal State Transport Corporation, the transport
secretary said.

"None of the buses, which will be sanctioned by the Ministry, will be given
to franchisee operators," he asserted.

State transport minister Madan Mitra said the previous Left Front
government in the state had given away around 1,200 buses procured under
the JNNURM scheme to private parties as franchisee operators.

"A number of these operators either did not pay up the instalments or
simply damaged and kept these buses idle," Mitra said, adding, that the
process to recover and operate those buses has already been initiated.

"The results will soon be visible on the roads of the metropolis," the
minister said, further claiming that there was no dearth of public
transport in the city.

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