- The responsibility of managing transport network and revenue collection, however, will remain with the STUs.
- The move comes against the backdrop of STUs reporting a revenue shortfall of Rs 6,488 crore in financial year 2021-2022.
NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, MAY 6
Tamil Nadu government was the pioneer in running the public transport and covering every nook and corner of the state along with free rides for senior citizens, women, children below 5 years of age and school and college going students.
BJP-run Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, AAP-run Delhi Government and Shiv Sena-run Maharashtra Government have been running city bus transports under Gross Cost Contract (GCC) or public-private partnership (PPP) model with highly successful rate. This has helped them to prune the overhead cost considerably.
Now, the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government is also planning to bring in private participation in running State Transport undertakings (STUs) under which procurement, operation and maintenance of buses will be carried out by external entities through GCC or PPP model, says a policy note tabled by the transport department in Tamil Nadu Assembly on Thursday.
The responsibility of managing transport network and revenue collection, however, will remain with the STUs, the note said. The move comes against the backdrop of STUs reporting a revenue shortfall of Rs 6,488 crore in financial year 2021-2022.
According to the note, the STUs will be responsible for providing quality service to commuters and they will also specify the minimum distance that has to be covered every day by private operators who will be paid on a per-km basis. The main advantage of the GCC is reduction of large upfront capital expenditure in procuring buses and reduction of cost in maintaining an inventory of spares and other consumables, the note said. The salary cost of maintenance staff can be reduced and STUs can also ensure considerable saving and enhanced level of efficiency throughout the contract period, the note said.
The STUs, however, should maintain a minimum number of own buses with enough staff for use in case of emergencies, said the note.
Incidentally, this model has been tried in Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS) where buses were hired from a concessionaire. The move help reduce cost of operating buses by 30%-50% in the capital. Even in Ahmedabad, 70 specially-designed diesel and electric buses were provided to private operators on GCC basis for seven years.
