RTCs to get 6,000 buses

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said 6,000 new buses will be inducted into the four state-run transport corporations by the end of March next year.

Ramalinga Reddy was speaking to reporters after launching a fleet of 70 new ‘Karnataka Sarige’ buses at the KSRTC depot in Shantinagar on Monday.

For the first time, the KSRTC has procured these new ‘Karnataka Sarige’ buses from Eicher Motors. These buses give better mileage compared to other makes, said officials. Usually, KSRTC, NEKRTC, and NWKRTC buy buses from Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland in the ordinary category. Explaining the procurement process, Reddy said that all major motor companies, including Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland had participated in the tender. Taking all aspects into consideration, the transport utility decided to buy Eicher buses, Reddy explained.

Each bus costs Rs 19.20 lakh and gives a mileage of 5.8 kilometres for a litre of diesel. By next year, KSRTC will buy 1,594 more such buses, Reddy said. He added that priority will be given for providing transport service in rural areas and added that nearly 2,500 buses have already been operating in rural areas.

More Fly Buses
Buoyed by the response for Fly Buses being operated between Kempegowda International Airport and Mysuru, the utility has decided to operate seven more such buses, including Bengaluru to Tirupati and Bengaluru to Madikeri.