‘TN to get 552 low-floor buses including 352 for MTC’
Initially, the transport department has floated bids to procure 442 low-floor buses
State Transport Department Minister SS Sivasankar
CHENNAI: Transport minister SS Sivasankar on Sunday said that the order has been issued to procure 552 low-floor buses including 352 buses for MTC through the KfW funding for Rs 500.97 crore.
He said that the procurement of the low-floor buses would not only fulfil the passengers' bus requirements but also help differently-abled passengers to commute easily.
Out of the 552 low-floor buses to be procured, 352 buses would be allotted to the MTC, 100 buses each to Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Coimbatore and Madurai.
Initially, the transport department has floated bids to procure 442 low-floor buses.
Following the Madras High Court order on procurement of low-floor buses for the differently abled passengers, it has decided to increase the number of low-floor buses by 25 per cent to 552 from 442 making use of the tender conditions and to avoid floating of fresh tender separately.
The court had directed the transport department to limit the number of standard floor buses to 950 out of the total 1107 buses and to procure 157 low-floor buses through a separate tender.
The 1107 standard-floor buses were part of another tender to procure 1771 BS6 diesel buses under the KfW funding.
In October, the transport department placed an order with a bus manufacturer to procure 1666 bus chassis for both the town and mofussil services at Rs 371 crore.
TNSTC Kumbakonam will get 367 buses, Madurai 350 buses, Villupuram 344 buses, Coimbatore 263 buses, Tirunelveli 242 buses and Salem 84 buses.
TNSTC Coimbatore would get 16 buses exclusively for the use in hilly areas.
