The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is set to add 5,000 Tata Motors buses to its fleet after completing the tender process, Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said. The expansion is intended to strengthen bus services across the state as more than 5,000 older buses are expected to be retired from passenger operations over the next six months.
According to the minister, Tata Motors submitted the lowest bid in the tender process. Sarnaik said the corporation would not compromise on the quality of the buses and that the new vehicles would help modernise the state transport undertaking’s fleet.
The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation is a key provider of public transport in rural Maharashtra, where its services connect villages and smaller towns with district centres and larger urban areas. The planned acquisition is expected to reduce pressure on older buses, improve the availability of services and address disruptions caused by ageing vehicles breaking down during journeys.
The announcement comes as MSRTC continues a wider fleet-modernisation programme. The corporation has already inducted 2,640 buses with a 2-by-2 seating configuration. It is also processing the induction of 3,000 buses with a 3-by-2 seating arrangement under the Rajmata Jijau category.
The new buses are expected to make the fleet younger and better aligned with passenger requirements. The corporation has said that, after the 5,000 buses are inducted, it will attempt to provide a bus service wherever there is a demand for one. The announcement links the proposed expansion directly to the operational challenge of maintaining services while older vehicles leave the fleet.
Sarnaik also appealed to those seeking additional services to ensure that the requested routes would not operate at a loss. He said a bus service could be provided even if it did not benefit the person requesting it, but those making such demands should guarantee that the service would not run at a loss.
The report did not specify the total value of the tender, the delivery schedule, the precise bus models or the financing arrangement. The next operational milestones will be the formalisation of the procurement and the induction of the new buses into the MSRTC fleet.
