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Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will soon add 300 more double-decker buses to its fleet after importing those vehicles from India.
The state-owned bus operator signed a Tk 2.39-billion contract with Ashok Leyland Limited on Tuesday to purchase the buses under second Indian Line of Credit (LoC).
According to the contract, the supplier will start sending the buses to the country from this December, and will complete the process by next February.
Under the first US$ 1.0-billion Indian LoC, BRTC completed procurement of 290 double-decker buses from Ashok Leyland in 2013.
BRTC Chairman Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan and Ashok Leyland President of Global Sales and Distribution Rajive Saharia signed the contract on behalf of the respective sides.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla witnessed the signing ceremony, among others.
IFAD Group Chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu and Deputy Managing Director Taskeen Ahmed were also present on the occasion. IFAD Group is the sole distributor of Ashok Leyland brand vehicles here.
While speaking on the occasion, the minister said scarcity of public transports in the capital will be significantly reduced after the new double-decker buses start plying the city streets.
He requested the supplier to deliver the first consignment of the buses by October.
The BRTC chairman said each of the new buses will cost $ 86,500, and will have ramp to facilitate use of wheelchairs by the physically-challenged people.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the bus procurement proposal with supplier's credit on August 1.
BRTC signed another contract with TATA on August 16 to procure 500 trucks and 100 non-airconditioned buses.
BRTA now has over 400 double-decker buses in its fleet of 900 buses.
However, of those buses, around 550 are now plying the roads, as nearly 40 per cent of the BRTC buses are unfit to operate due to lack of regular maintenance, sources said.