Having announced earlier the arrival of around 1,000 semi-low floor DTC buses by April end, the Delhi Cabinet will consider the proposal in the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that is expected to cost the State around Rs650 crore.
Sources said separate tenders will be floated for procurement of buses and their maintenance. However, with Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) being the primary bone of contention between the vendors and the public transport body that led to failure of multiple tenders, Delhi Transport Corporation is a little apprehensive about the separate AMC tender.
In the recent board meeting of the DTC, a question was raised as to what will the DTC do if it fails to get any service provider after the purchase of busesIJ Earlier, the bus manufacturers had to sign a maintenance contract for all the buses it supplied thereby ensuring that the buses are maintained by the same agency that manufactures and supplies the buses.
The Delhi Government had announced in January that around 3,000 buses, including 1,000 “premium” buses, will be brought on the roads of Delhi this year by November. The Government had also said that 1000 of those buses will be rolled out by end of April. However, sources said it will be an uphill task to actually do that. An official said on the condition of anonymity that the tendering process itself takes around six months to be completed, that too if everything goes smoothly.