Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has stayed the decision of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to ply buses taken on rent.
The transport department was headed by the then chief minister Eknath Shinde in the previous Mahayuti govt. Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was appointed MSRTC chairman in Sept.
Fadnavis stayed Shinde’s decision on Monday after he took a review meeting of the transport department and details of the bus-on-rent scheme were shared in a presentation given by officials.
Fadnavis asked additional chief secretary (transport) Sanjay Sethi to look into the matter and submit a report.
“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 planned to hire 1,310 buses. Of these, 450 buses were for the Mumbai-Pune route, 430 buses for Nashik-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and 430 for Nagpur-Amravati. City Life Line Travels, Travel Time Mobility India, and Antony Road Transport Solutions offered to supply the buses.
The opposition MVA alleged that the scheme amounted to a Rs 2,800 crore scam. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve, who took up the issue in the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur, said that the buses-on-rent scheme was nothing but a Rs multi-crore scam. Danve said that the state govt must issue a formal order staying the scheme and ordering an inquiry.
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.
Danve said the contracts were given to companies from Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. “This was an attempt to loot the state by the MSRTC. If the previous company was offering buses at Rs 44 per km with fuel, but the MSRTC chose to opt for a contract that costs much more, then this shows that there is corruption. The new contracts cost Rs 280 crore more per year. This means in a 10-year contract, the state govt would have to shell out Rs 2,800 crore more,” Danve said.
Pawar said in a post on X: “It is hoped that the CM will get to the root of this scam without succumbing to any political pressure and take action against the culprits. We hope he will also investigate the past scams in the health department, Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC), and the contractual recruitment scam and bring the truth to the fore.”
Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has stayed the decision of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to ply buses taken on rent.
The transport department was headed by the then chief minister Eknath Shinde in the previous Mahayuti govt. Shiv Sena MLA Bharat Gogawale was appointed MSRTC chairman in Sept.
Fadnavis stayed Shinde’s decision on Monday after he took a review meeting of the transport department and details of the bus-on-rent scheme were shared in a presentation given by officials.
Fadnavis asked additional chief secretary (transport) Sanjay Sethi to look into the matter and submit a report.
“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 planned to hire 1,310 buses. Of these, 450 buses were for the Mumbai-Pune route, 430 buses for Nashik-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and 430 for Nagpur-Amravati. City Life Line Travels, Travel Time Mobility India, and Antony Road Transport Solutions offered to supply the buses.
The opposition MVA alleged that the scheme amounted to a Rs 2,800 crore scam. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve, who took up the issue in the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur, said that the buses-on-rent scheme was nothing but a Rs multi-crore scam. Danve said that the state govt must issue a formal order staying the scheme and ordering an inquiry.
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.
Danve said the contracts were given to companies from Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu. “This was an attempt to loot the state by the MSRTC. If the previous company was offering buses at Rs 44 per km with fuel, but the MSRTC chose to opt for a contract that costs much more, then this shows that there is corruption. The new contracts cost Rs 280 crore more per year. This means in a 10-year contract, the state govt would have to shell out Rs 2,800 crore more,” Danve said.
Pawar said in a post on X: “It is hoped that the CM will get to the root of this scam without succumbing to any political pressure and take action against the culprits. We hope he will also investigate the past scams in the health department, Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC), and the contractual recruitment scam and bring the truth to the fore.”