Karnataka transport dept to add 5,500 new buses to its fleet

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Karnataka transport department is planning to add 5500 more buses to its fleet in four corporations very soon to meet the increasing demand for the Shakti scheme which allows free bus travel for women in the state, sources from the transport department said on Friday.

According to sources, the four corporations namely North-West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), Kalyan Karnataka (KKRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and KSRTC, had requested for 12,000 buses from the transport department.

Out of this, 5500 buses will be provided to them in 2024 and 7000 more will be added later. It is also learnt that out of the new fleet, the BMTC will get 1500 buses, KSRTC will be provided with 2000 buses while KKRTC and NWKRTC will be given 1000 buses each.

The state-run buses by all transport corporations in Karnataka saw more than 80 crore footfalls collectively, ever since the Shakti scheme was launched in June.