Mumbai: The state transport department has asked the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to scrap its contract to hire buses on rent and call for a fresh tender, citing abnormal issuance of the letter of intent (LOI) by MSRTC.
In a letter issued by the transport department to the MSRTC managing sirector, it was instructed to scrap the old contract and invite fresh tenders. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader of the opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve had on Monday said that the CM Devendra Fadnavis-appointed committee led by additional chief secretary (transport) Sanjay Sethi recommended scrapping the MSRTC contract to hire buses on rent and call for a fresh tender.
Danve also said athat the committee recommended that MSRTC officials and consulting agencies be probed. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alleged that the scheme amounts to a Rs 2,800 crore scam. Last week, Fadnavis stayed MSRTC’s decision that was taken when Dy CM Eknath Shinde was holding the transport portfolio and Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was heading MSRTC as chairperson. The scrapping order was issued by Sarika Mande, desk officer at the transport department.
Danve had taken up the issue in the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. “The govt must make the inquiry report public. Mere scrapping of the contract is not enough. This scam was a result of an MSRTC officials-contractors-consultants nexus. So, stringent action must be taken against all of them. I will take up the issue in the budget session of the state legislature again. I demand that the committee report be made public,” Danve said.
“MSRTC gave a letter of intent (LOI) to three companies for renting buses in Dec 2024. The plan was to rent 1,310 buses for 10 years. The cost of renting was Rs 34.70 to Rs 35.10 per km, but this was excluding the cost of fuel. However, in 2022, MSRTC rented buses at Rs 44 per km, including fuel cost. There is an average fuel cost of around Rs 22 per km. So, the actual bus renting cost will be over Rs 56 per km, which is around Rs 12 to Rs 13 per km more,” said an official during the presentation.
The MSRTC is hiring 1,310 buses. Of these, 450 buses are for the Mumbai-Pune corridor, 430 buses for Nashik-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and 430 buses for Nagpur-Amravati. City Life Line Travels, Travel Time Mobility India, and Antony Road Transport Solutions offered to supply the buses.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said that taking advantage of the political instability and political compromises in the recent past, contractors and officials colluded to form a big lobby and bag contracts at exorbitant prices. “The MSRTC scam is just one of the scams … . Thousands of crores of brokerage was siphoned in every department of the state,” Pawar said.
The transport department was headed by the then CM Eknath Shinde in the previous Mahayuti govt. Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was appointed MSRTC chairman in Sept.
Mumbai: The state transport department has asked the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to scrap its contract to hire buses on rent and call for a fresh tender, citing abnormal issuance of the letter of intent (LOI) by MSRTC.
In a letter issued by the transport department to the MSRTC managing sirector, it was instructed to scrap the old contract and invite fresh tenders. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader of the opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve had on Monday said that the CM Devendra Fadnavis-appointed committee led by additional chief secretary (transport) Sanjay Sethi recommended scrapping the MSRTC contract to hire buses on rent and call for a fresh tender.
Danve also said athat the committee recommended that MSRTC officials and consulting agencies be probed. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alleged that the scheme amounts to a Rs 2,800 crore scam. Last week, Fadnavis stayed MSRTC’s decision that was taken when Dy CM Eknath Shinde was holding the transport portfolio and Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was heading MSRTC as chairperson. The scrapping order was issued by Sarika Mande, desk officer at the transport department.
Danve had taken up the issue in the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. “The govt must make the inquiry report public. Mere scrapping of the contract is not enough. This scam was a result of an MSRTC officials-contractors-consultants nexus. So, stringent action must be taken against all of them. I will take up the issue in the budget session of the state legislature again. I demand that the committee report be made public,” Danve said.
“MSRTC gave a letter of intent (LOI) to three companies for renting buses in Dec 2024. The plan was to rent 1,310 buses for 10 years. The cost of renting was Rs 34.70 to Rs 35.10 per km, but this was excluding the cost of fuel. However, in 2022, MSRTC rented buses at Rs 44 per km, including fuel cost. There is an average fuel cost of around Rs 22 per km. So, the actual bus renting cost will be over Rs 56 per km, which is around Rs 12 to Rs 13 per km more,” said an official during the presentation.
The MSRTC is hiring 1,310 buses. Of these, 450 buses are for the Mumbai-Pune corridor, 430 buses for Nashik-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and 430 buses for Nagpur-Amravati. City Life Line Travels, Travel Time Mobility India, and Antony Road Transport Solutions offered to supply the buses.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar said that taking advantage of the political instability and political compromises in the recent past, contractors and officials colluded to form a big lobby and bag contracts at exorbitant prices. “The MSRTC scam is just one of the scams … . Thousands of crores of brokerage was siphoned in every department of the state,” Pawar said.
The transport department was headed by the then CM Eknath Shinde in the previous Mahayuti govt. Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was appointed MSRTC chairman in Sept.
