TN govt signs project agreement with KfW to procure new buses

The Tamil Nadu government has signed an agreement with German development bank KfW here to procure new buses complying to Bharat Stage VI norms and those run on batteries.

The signing of the agreement with KfW follows the state budget announcement in which through financial assistance totalling Rs 5,890 crore from KfW -- 12,000 BSVI compliant and 2,000 electric buses would be purchased.

As part of rolling out the scheme under the first phase, a 'project agreement' was signed between the Transport department and KfW on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister K Palaniswami at the Secretariat to procure 2,213 new buses under BSVI norms and 500 electric buses worth Rs 1,580 crore, a press release said.

The infrastructure to operate electric buses, procurement of software and hardware for enhancing the efficiency of transport department besides passenger information system would be set up under this initiative, it said.

Transport minister M R Vijayabhaskar, chief secretary K Shanmugam and KfW Development Bank Deputy Director Christiane Schmidt were among those who were present on the occasion, it added.