Rajasthan to hire 500 new buses on contract to strengthen urban transport

Jaipur: CM Ashok Gehlot has approved proposal to hire 500 new buses on contract to strengthen transport services in urban areas, as per an official statement.

These buses will ply in cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer and Kota. Of 500 buses, 300 will be operated by the Jaipur City Transport Service Ltd.

The statement said, CM has approved financial provision of Rs 132.24 crore for the operation of the buses. This amount will be made available from the Rajasthan Transport Basic Development Fund.

The purchase, operation and maintenance of these buses will be done by contractor concerned and a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) amount per kilometre will be given by the Rajasthan City Transport Corporation. The income from the operation of buses will also be collected by the corporation.

The state govt will form the Rajasthan City Transport Corporation by merging the existing city transport companies for other urban areas including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer and Kota. CM had made announcement for the operation of new buses in the 2023-24 state budget.

The CM has also approved proposal to upgrade 155 govt primary schools to upper primary. These include 33 schools in Barmer, 27 in Jodhpur, 20 in Jaisalmer, 16 in Udaipur, 12 in Nagaur, 11 in Bikaner, 10 in Ajmer, 8 in Chittorgarh, 6 in Dungarpur, 4 in Churu, 3 in Hanumangarh, 2 in Jaipur, and 1 each in Alwar, Jalore and Karauli.