Thane: The Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) on Friday presented a basic budget of ₹487.68 crore for 2023-24, focusing on the means to increase the revenue.
The budget was presented by the TMT committee chairman Vilas Joshi. Last year the TMT presented a budget of ₹620.90 crore.
In the TMT budget the good news for Thanekars is that the municipal transport department in order to make the transportation easier is planning to reduce the bus ticket fare.
302 new electric buses in Thane
As per the budget the 302 new electric buses will be soon available in the service of Thanekars.
In the financial year 2022-23 the transport department administration has demanded a subsidy of ₹460.54 crore from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and in the financial year 2023-24 an amount of ₹320.6 crore has been demanded for subsidy.
The budget has not proposed any increase in bus fares whereas 302 electric buses will be added in the fleet by March 2026. The budget this year has been decreased by more than 100 crore in comparison with 2022-23 TMT budget.
Vilas Joshi, TMT committee, chairman said, "The TMT will be purchasing 303 electric buses and these buses will be purchased in phases till the year 2026 from the funds received from the central government under clean air initiative. Apart from this, it is also proposed to purchase such buses from the funds of the Transport Initiative. Therefore, this year's budget has emphasized on increasing the number of buses in the transport fleet. Apart from this, it is also proposed to fix the fares of electric buses under the Thane Transport Corporation on the lines of Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporations. The ticket prices are going to come down, so the journey of Thanekars is going to be easier."
Vibhav Birwatkar
Joshi further added, "Emphasis has been placed on increasing bus trips, increasing the number of passengers, new routes have been proposed, buses will also run on routes outside Thane city that is Navi Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivli etc. New 123 buses will be added to the transport fleet, environmentally friendly buses will be taken.
"Due to the suspension of the bus services during the corona period, there was a big impact on the revenue collection by the TMT and the reason so much subsidy was demanded by the TMC. This year 80 electric buses will be purchased from the funds received under Clean Air Initiative by the Central Government. Out of them, 11 buses have recently entered the fleet of the TMT," informed Joshi.
'Realistic Budget'
Kasber Augustine, president of Thane Citizens Forum reacting on the TMT budget said, "The TMT has presented a realistic budget and it will be really good to see if the bus fares will come down. The revenue of the TMT will definitely increase due to increase in the number of passengers in the TMT buses due to reduced fares."
