With the allocation of Rs 7,383 crore to buy new buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, AP State Road Transport Corporation is expecting to ply more buses this year.
Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday announced the allocation and added that the JNNURM project will be continued in the 12th plan.
The APSRTC had procured as many as 1,500 buses under the scheme in phase-1. According to sources, about 4,000 new buses are needed to provide better service. JNNURM norms state that the Centre will bear 35 per cent of total cost of each bus, 15 per cent will be borne by state government and the remaining 50 percent by the RTC.