Delhi to get 500 new buses soon

Under the cluster service, private vendors procure and operate buses. (File)

The decks were cleared on Friday for the induction of 500 new standard-floor cluster buses in Delhi, with the government choosing two vendors, who will be reimbursed for installing hydraulic lifts to make the buses differently abled-friendly.

The vendors were issued letters of acceptance after Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot’s approval, Transport Commissioner Varsha Joshi told The Indian Express. “We had taken the standing counsel’s advise in deciding which 500 to go for, since the tender was for 1,000 buses. It has been decided that the vendors will be reimbursed for the installation of lifts. A proposal in this regard will be brought to the Cabinet,” she said.

Under the cluster service, private vendors procure and operate buses. Money from ticket fares goes to the government, which pays operators on a per kilometre basis. “As the vendors will directly buy the buses, we do know at this point who the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are. The OEMs will have to install the lifts,” Joshi said.

The government’s original proposal was to add 1,000 standard-floor buses to the fleet of the cluster scheme. Currently, around 1,700 cluster buses are operational under the supervision of the DIMTS, while there are 3,700 buses under DTC.