An agreement for Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Grant of USD 9.20 Million with the World Bank for “Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Service Project” was signed.
The Efficient and Sustainable City Bus Services Project of India has an objective is to improve the efficiency and attractiveness of city bus transport and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the demonstration cities.
The project comprises (i) a national capacity building component to be implemented by MoUD and another on (ii) city demonstration projects with select cities.
As part of component one, policy, regulatory and fiscal constraints will be reviewed at national, state and city levels to promote efficient and high quality city bus services and policy notes developed for discussion and debate among key stakeholders on areas of reform.
Component two shall support physical improvements targeted at modernizing the city bus services in demonstration cities including (i) modern depot equipment for improved maintenance and life of buses, (ii) modern Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Management Information Systems (MIS) – to make the services more user friendly and for improved planning and management of operations to enable optimal use of resources.
The total program cost is USD 113.0 million, with USD 9.20 million as grant from the GEF and USD 103.07 million from Government of India and state & city governments for funding of buses and ancillary infrastructure.
It comprises: (i) a national capacity building component to be implemented by Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD); and (ii) city demonstration projects in the cities of Bhopal, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Mira Bhayandar.
