NEW DELHI: Making a strong pitch for privatisation of public transport system, especially buses, in Indian cities, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that state governments need to accept that they cannot run the system effectively and efficiently, and should adopt the London model of public-private partnership.
He said almost all state governments’ financial situation was very bad and neither they had money, nor banks were willing to lend to them. He said the credibility of state transport operators was so bad that petrol pumps donot want to fill the tanks of their buses as they do not pay for the diesel at the time of filling the tank, reports IANS.
Except a few states, the condition of buses is so bad that except their horns, everything else makes sound. Let’s accept that we can’t run it. We should accept London’s transport model,” Gadkari said at the launch of Reimbursable Advisory Services (RAS) on public transport.
