195 buses hired on lease for ferrying passengers: Gujarat Govt

The government paid over Rs 90 crores as rental for these buses.

The Gujarat government has taken 195 buses on lease from three different firms for transporting passengers in the state, the state legislative assembly was informed on Wednesday. The government paid over Rs 90 crores as rental for these buses.

The government hired 120 buses from M/s Adinath Bulk Pvt Ltd for six years which includes Volvo sleeper buses and Airconditioned seater and sleeper buses. These buses will be paid rentals between Rs 12.81 to Rs 23.30 per kilometer, stated the government in a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Sailesh Parmar during the Question Hour.

The government has similarly hired 25 Volvo buses from M/s Konduskar Pvt Ltd who will be paid between Rs 26.38-21.18 per kilometer. An additional 50 Volvo seater buses were hired from M/s Chartered Speed Ltd who will be paid between Rs 23.75-19.07 per kilometer. These lease agreements for about 5-6 years have been signed between 2016 and 2019.

In response to a separate question on the same topic asked by Congress MLA Punja Vansh, the government stated in its written reply that the rentals will cost Rs 93.39 crore to the state exchequer for the two calendar years 2019 and 2020.

This year, in the state budget, the state government has moved a proposal to introduce 1000 new buses and 500 Volvo buses. It also plans to operate 50 electric buses and 50 CNG buses.

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