The Yogi Adityanath government is set to add 1,000 state-of-the-art buses to the fleet of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) to upgrade road transport in the state.

The government has already released the second installment of Rs 200 crore for the upgradation of the bus fleet following the approval of a proposal in this regard during the cabinet meeting held recently.

The UP government had announced a budget of Rs 400 crore for upgradation of road transport in the state through addition of 1000 state-of-the-art buses to the fleet of UPSRTC in the year 2023-24.

With this funding, the process of purchasing and including modern buses in the UPSRTC fleet will accelerate. Additionally, the maintenance and repair of existing buses will also improve.

The state government aims to complete the process of purchasing and including these 1,000 buses in the UPSRTC fleet within the financial year 2023-24. The transport commissioner will oversee all the procurement, ensuring compliance with the rule book of Uttar Pradesh government.

To ensure that the buses emit minimal carbon, necessary environmental approvals under environmental rules and Acts and the EIA Notification of 2006 (amended) will be obtained. Compliance with environmental regulations and court orders will also be ensured.

The new buses will make travel on UPSRTC buses for passengers convenient, comfortable and enjoyable.

Meanwhile, the process of allotment of funds for the completion of various works at the State Transport Appellate Tribunal has also been started in the financial year 2023-24. Against the funds provisioned through supplementary budget, an amount of Rs 82 lakh has been released after administrative and financial approval.

This amount will be used for transfer travel expenses, maintenance of vehicles and purchase of petrol and balance of revised salaries (government). The expenditure of the allocated funds will follow the rules outlined in the budget manual and financial handbook.