Centre rejects Delhi govt's demand for augmenting bus service

In its budget, the Centre has turned down the Rs 4,000 crore demand of Delhi government to augment public transport system in the national capital.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the NDA government has not allocated fund to purchase new buses in the capital.
At the pre-budget consultation with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Sisodia had demanded a package of Rs 4,000 crore from the central government to purchase 5,000 additional buses, seeking to encourage citizens to patronise public transport.
The AAP governemnt, as part of its odd-even scheme has been encouraging people to take up public transport, which it wishes to augment by putting in more buses on the streets.

Slamming the Centre, the deputy chief minister said the NDA government should have decreased excise duty on sale of purchase of buses, but it did not.
"It is requested that the central excise duty which is about 12.625 per cent on fully built buses and autos may be exempted to reduce the cost of public transport," Sisodia had said.