There will be no respite, as World Bank rejects sanction of loan for 1,600 new BEST buses
Mumbai will continue to travel in congested BEST buses for a few more months. That's because the World Bank (WB) has denied the BEST funds to procure 1,600 new buses under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP). BEST requires Rs 228 crore as loan for the buses.
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de dhakka: Commuters struggle to get into a bus at Andheri. With the World Bank denying funds for more BEST buses, 44 lakh passengers who use the service will have to bear with such a situation for some more time. PIC/DATTA KUMBHAR |
Around 44 lakh people travel in BEST's 4,000 buses every day.
A senior MMRDA official who was part of the meeting between BEST and WB said, "The bank clearly stated that they wouldn't fund these buses under MUTP, as WB's budget for MUTP has been exceeded." Under MUTP, BEST has already procured 650 buses at a cost of Rs 20-Rs 30 lakh per bus.
The interest rates on the new loan too were an issue, as the existing interest rates were a bit lower than the proposed one.
A BEST official added, "We tried convincing them, as a loan under MUTP will be beneficial and profitable for us." BEST will approach the bank again in a few months.
The BEST would have saved nearly Rs 40 crore if they had managed to procure loan under MUTP.
However, Sunil Ganacha-rya, BEST committee member, said, "The WB had appreciated the way we have utilised the loan given till now. But we require more buses on road if we want to cater to lakhs of commuters every day."
Budget break-up Rs 456 crore: Total budget for the 1,600 buses
Rs 160 crore (35 per cent): Amount taken from Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (This has facilitated the purchase of 700 buses)
Rs 68 crore (15 per cent): Amount taken from state governmentu00a0
Rs 228 crore (50 per cent): Loan that's required by the BEST from WB
Request to CentreAs per a report submitted by the BEST to the u00a0Central government, they would require 5,400 buses by 2010. They already have 4,000 u00a0buses, which include u00a0200 buses older than u00a010 years
