JAIPUR: The Rajasthan Government has received the much-awaited go-ahead from the Centre for evolving a low-cost high quality public transport system in Jaipur where all facilities of metro rail will be available in the bus. The Centre has agreed to provide funds for developing road infrastructure under the project.

The State Government has proposed a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) master plan of 138 km with the development of a BRT corridor along 42 km of network in the project's first phase. The project cost for developing the road infrastructure has been estimated at Rs. 469 crores, while Rs. 150 crores will be required for procurement of low floor modern buses.

The Commissioner of Jaipur Development Authority (JDA), D.B. Gupta, told reporters here on Tuesday that the funding of road infrastructure by the Centre would be proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The funds for procuring buses would be raised by public private partnership.

The JDA has identified four segments for developing corridor in the first phase. All the segments originate from the Government Hostel in the heart of the city connecting it with Sanganer airport via Sahakar Marg, Ajmer bypass on Sikar Road, Transport Nagar via Mirza Ismail Road and Amrit Nagar via Ajmer Road.

Mr. Gupta said the project would be implemented in the State capital within the next three years and the corridors reserved for the BRTS could later be used for the metro rail system, if and when it is built. The special purpose vehicles (SPV) will be obtained without inviting any financial burden on the State exchequer.

O.P. Agrawal, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Urban Development -- who was here to participate in a workshop on BRTS -- said the development of the system in Jaipur was a sustainable and viable option in view of expansion of the city, its growing population and the transport needs.

Mr. Agrawal said the Union Ministry of Urban Development had also approved proposals for BRTS in Ahmedabad, Pune and Indore, while Delhi would be establishing the system on several corridors. He said the BRTS was very popular around the world as it offered very high carrying capacity at a fraction of the cost of metro rail system.

The two-day workshop, which ended here on Tuesday, was attended by experts from Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh who discussed the issues such as road engineering and design matters, operational matters and management and regulatory systems.

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