By IANS,
Dhaka : The state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation has sought a Taka 500 million ($7 million) credit from India to purchase 100 compressed natural gas (CNG)-run buses to replace its ageing transport fleet.
Bangladesh Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain confirmed Saturday that the government has taken initiatives to purchase 500 more buses with financial assistance from India.
Hossain said tender evaluation process entered the final stage for the purchase of 100 CNG buses with financial assistance from Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland).
Ten bidders including contractors from India, China, Japan and South Korea have participated in the open tender.
Nordic countries are providing loan worth around $30 million to implement the ‘Clean Dhaka Project’, New Age newspaper said Sunday.
The project has received a political fillip since the present government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office in January. It is aimed at cleaning up a river, the ferry ghats and introducing environment-friendly transport.
Besides, BRTC officials said the communications ministry was looking for support from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of South Korea to purchase another fleet of 300 CNG buses.
At present, the corporation has no CNG-run bus in its current fleet of 170 single and double-deckers in the capital.
The state-run transport agency has withdrawn from most of the city routes and limited its services to Volvo double-deckers on a few selected routes, where it recently initiated e-ticketing.