The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) are set to jointly purchase 100 electric and 100 CNG buses for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Mahesh Landge informed via X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday. He added that 60% of the cost will be borne by the PMC, while the remaining 40% will be covered by the PCMC.
"A blueprint for improving air quality in Pimpri-Chinchwad under the National Clean Air Programme has been approved. As a result, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and Pune Municipal Corporation will jointly purchase 100 electric buses and 100 CNG buses for PMPML. PMC will fund 60% of the purchase, while PCMC will contribute 40%. PCMC will bear the cost of 40 CNG buses. In a meeting today, Commissioner & Administrator Shekhar Singh approved the allocation of Rs 27.20 crore for the purchase of these buses by PMPML," the Bhosari MLA wrote.
Meanwhile, PMPML bus breakdowns on Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad roads have seen a significant rise from January to August this year, according to official figures. While PMPML buses maintained a relatively stable range of 500 to 600 breakdowns per month, leased buses experienced a sharp increase, jumping from 1,372 in January to 2,713 in August. In August alone, PMPML reported 561 breakdowns (an average of 18 per day), whereas leased buses accounted for 2,152 breakdowns (an average of 69 per day).
Currently, the total PMPML fleet comprises 1,928 buses, with 871 operated by private contractors.
