Jammu, Sept 02: The confusion over fixation of passenger fares for e-buses in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir continues to prevail here as both Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL) and the J&K Housing Board have been passing the buck.
“The e-buses will be made operational within 4-5 days,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC), Rahul Yadav, told Rising Kashmir.
However, the passenger fare has not been decided so far which raises questions as to how the passengers travelling in e-buses will be charged.
The JSCL says that the passenger fare in J&K UT for e-buses will be decided by the Housing Board, while the Housing Board claims that the passenger fare will be decided by the JSCL.
“The passenger fare for e-buses in J&K UT will be decided by the Housing Board,” Rahul Yadav told Rising Kashmir, while an official of the Housing Board claimed, “the charges for passengers travelling in e-buses will be decided by the JSCL”.
A total of 200 e-buses will operate in the UT of J&K under the Smart City Project. The e-buses are being manufactured by Tata Motors in Karnataka (Dharwad).
The J&K government has entered into an agreement for 12 years with Tata Motors for payment of the 200 e-buses.
Both Jammu and Srinagar will have one hundred (100) e-buses each under the Smart City Project.
The J&K government will pay Rs 55.62 per/km for 12 mtr long buses and Rs 47 per/km for 9 mtr long buses.
The cost of a 9 mtr long e-bus is Rs 1.25 cr, while the cost of a 12 mtr long e-bus is Rs 1.5 cr. This is for the first time in the J&K UT that fully Air-Conditioned e-buses would be plying on the roads of J&K under the ‘Gross Cost Contract Model’.
