Govt plans to procure 320 Korean AC buses

The government has planned to procure 320 single-decker AC buses from South Korea for Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to smooth transportation for commuters.

In this regard, the Road Transport and Highways Division has proposed a project sent to the planning commission for approval, a senior official at the Planning Ministry told The Business Post.

The cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 600 crore. Of the figure, Tk 166.50 crore will come from the government exchequer and the remaining Tk 433.50 crore from the Exim Bank of Korea through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), he added.

Planning Minister MA Mannan has already, in principle, approved the project and asked the relevant authorities to take the necessary steps.

To process the bus procurement faster, the Economic Relations Division already wrote to the Korean government seeking the fund for the procurement, said an ERD official.

The Road Transport and Highways Division proposed to use 30 per cent of the fund to procure equipment purchase to maintain the buses, down from 10 per cent estimated earlier. The lifespans of the buses are expected to be around 22 years.

The new buses will run on intercity routes and replace the faulty buses. Public transport is very important for establishing an improved and integrated transport network system in Dhaka as per the increasing number of passengers.

BRTC has initiated earlier to increase the number of public transports in Dhaka aiming at bringing an end to the traffic congestion in the city. But due to a shortage of funds, the move ended in smoke, officials said.