Sindh CM to give Rs2-billion subsidy to launch fleet of 600 vehicles

They are being included in present fleet of passenger buses to meet city’s requirements, says transport minister

KARACHI: Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has decided to give a Rs2-billion subsidy to transporters to launch a fleet of 600 vehicles in the city to meet the growing requirement of passenger buses.

He said this while presiding over a meeting on intra-city and inter-city bus service at CM House on Tuesday. Transport Minister Nasir Shah, Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Planning and Development Chairperson M Waseem, Principal Secretary to CM Naveed Kamran Balcoh, Transport Secretary Taha Farooqui and Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi among others attended the meeting.

The transport minister said there was a shortage of 8,000 buses in the city. Therefore, he said, a new mechanism was being adopted to include at least 600 buses in the present fleet of passenger buses to somewhat meet the requirement of the city. He added that after this, Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) would be launched.



The chief minister said his government would assist the transporters in the form of a subsidy for a period of five years. "The government will give a subsidy of Rs2 billion to be distributed through Sindh Modaraba," he said. Sindh Modaraba is a company owned by the Sindh government. According to the CM, the debt equity ratio would be 70:30. Seventy per cent of the cost of the vehicles will be paid by the Sindh government through the subsidy. Meanwhile, the transporters’ equity would be 15% and the remaining 15% would be given by Sindh government in the form of interest-free loan, which would be repayable within a year.

The transport department also proposed to start an intra-city project under the same mechanism as the inter-city project. Under the proposal, the Sindh government would bear the cost of insurance of the vehicle, which would be insured through the Sindh Insurance Ltd and that would be around 5% of the value of the vehicle.

The chief minister said that only locally assembled vehicles would be financed. It was also proposed that if the transporter manages to repay all the instalments on time, maintained the vehicle in roadworthy condition and otherwise fulfilled all the obligations, the Sindh government would forgive its portion of the cost of 15%.

Blue Line BRT

Giving a presentation on the Blue Line BRT, Transport Minister Nasir Shah said it will stretch from alAsif Square in Sohrab Goth to Golimar. It would be a 12-kilometre-long route with 6.6 kilometres elevated tracks. It would have nine stations, including five elevated tracks. It is expected that around 375,000 people will commute on the Blue Line daily, he said.



Transport Secretary Taha Farooqui said the route would start from alAsif Square and will pass through Yousif Plaza, Naseerabad, Ayesha Manzil, Karimabad, Liaquatabad, Daak Khana, Teen Hati and Guru Mandir.

The chief minister directed the transport department to go ahead and fulfil all the requirements to launch the projects at the earliest. The Sindh government would assist the transporters financially and administratively, he said.