The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said it was embarking on a comprehensive restructuring programme of the public transport sector, which included introduction of electric buses in select cities.

The programme would be undertaken with German funding, Governor Banwarilal Purohit told the Tamil Nadu Assembly in his customary address to its members. “The government is embarking on a comprehensive restructuring programme of the transport corporations with the support of German bilateral financing agency, KfW,” he said. This would involve replacement of the ageing fleet with fuel efficient BS-VI buses and procurement of electric buses in metro cities like Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, he said.

The Governor said Transport Corporations were operating in excess of 21,000 buses, carrying 1.74 crore passengers a day and added that tariffs in the state, despite revisions in ticket rates, were still among the ‘lowest’ in the country. The government was absorbing the additional costs arising due to increase in diesel prices and has sanctioned about Rs 268 crore as compensation to the corporations between January 2018 and October 2018, he said.

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