This is one Centre-State tussle that has come to haunt Tata Motors big time. At stake is its Rs 100 crore that the States collectively owe to the auto major, having purchased its buses supplied under the Centre-sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission (JNNURM).
The company has now approached the Union Urban Development Ministry to persuade the State transport undertakings across the cities to release the amount. Sources said the UD Ministry has, subsequently, asked the State transport utilities to release the money to the company at the earliest.
Sources said the States have made it clear to Tata Motors that payment would be made only after the Centre releases their share of fund under the Mission.
But the Ministry has cited the lack of reforms initiatives by the States for the non-release of funds. “According to the memorandum of agreements with the states, they were supposed to have undertaken many reforms like creation of a unified transport authority in the cities where these buses would ply. The states had also agreed with the Centre to roll out smart ticketing systems and a dedicated urban transport fund, among other things. Most of the states have failed to do so,” Ministry officials said.
The State transport utilities have also cited issues like frequent breakdown of the vehicles and delays in supplies as reasons behind non-payment of due amount.
The UPA government had approved Rs 4,723.97 crore to jointly fund 14,504 buses for States in the second stimulus package in early 2009, of which Rs 2,088.84 crore is to be borne by the Centre. However, the Ministry has released just Rs 1,067.42 crore to the States so far.
Nagpur State Transport Undertaking is the major defaulter in the Tata Motors list at Rs 15.45 crore followed by Thane (Rs 8.3 crore), Chennai (Rs 7.8 crore), Chandigarh (Rs 6.38 crore). The other erring transport utilities belong to Madurai, Coimbatore, Ujjain, Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Andhra Pradesh, BMTC, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Nagaland, Calcutta, Mumbai, Kalyan in Maharashtra, Arunanchal, Indore, Jabalpur and Sikkim.
The UD Ministry had sanctioned 15,260 buses to improve public transport services in 61 mission cities across the country. Tata Motors had received maximum orders for 5,888 buses of different types for state undertakings across the country, over a period of time beginning February 2009 up to March 2010 while Ashok leyland received orders for 5,209, said sources. Volvo got order for over 500 buses.