SPV must for operating JNNURM buses

Kerala has been asked to set up a special purpose vehicle for operating and managing the buses procured by the State with assistance of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. At present, the KSRTC is managing and operating 146 buses, including 26 air-conditioned buses, plying in Thiruvananthapuram and 167, including 48 air-conditioned buses, in Kochi that have been purchased under the JNNURM scheme. The move to set up an SPV and entrust it the JNNURM buses had not been successful although the Kochi Corporation trained the bus crew. Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi are among the 61 JNNURM cities that had benefited from the one-time Central assistance of Rs.4,700 crore for purchase of buses five years ago.