Hoping for some positive developments from this meeting ............... let's see how long more to see these buses on the streets of Karachi .............
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KARACHI (August 01 2010): The Ministry of Environment is going to hold a meeting on Tuesday, August 3, with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other banks to finalise funding for the 500 CNG-powered buses for Karachi. The meeting here would also be attended by representatives of Sindh government, Karachi City District Government (CDGK) and CNG bus operators.
The meeting would discuss criteria of funding to the already delayed project and, if all issues are settled, the 500 environment-friendly buses would ply on the city's road during this month. Beside the funding issue of the project all other arrangements have already been finalised, and the Minister of Environment, Hameedullah Jaan Afridi, is much interested to start the project in the metropolis, sources said.
All studies and selection of CNG bus operators have also been completed by Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) of CDGK and the bus supply and manufacturing firms were also ready to run the buses soon after the resolution of the funding issue. Earlier, local and international commercial banks and development financial institutions (DFIs), led by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), had shown interest in providing loans to the pre-qualified manufacturers and suppliers of CNG buses.
Though the ground working for launching of the CNG buses project have been completed, it was needed to have the private public support to run these buses on at least 40 routes of the city. Sources said that the selected and qualified banks, led by SBP, in co-operation and co-ordination of Enercon, would provide 80 percent loans for the project.
The government would also provide subsidy of at least Rs 0.7million for each bus, while the private bus suppliers would facilitate the 20 percent equity, they added. According to the project, initially 500 CNG powered buses were to be run on the city routes and this number would be increased to 4000 during the next five years.
For the successful launching of the project, the co-ordination and help of other institutions, like Hydro-Carbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) and Enercon were also sought. At least 14 private companies, including Midway Consortium, a Punjab-based CNG dedicated bus supplier which has good experience in operating such buses in Lahore and other cities of Punjab, had earlier shown interest to operate its buses in Karachi.
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KARACHI (August 01 2010): The Ministry of Environment is going to hold a meeting on Tuesday, August 3, with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other banks to finalise funding for the 500 CNG-powered buses for Karachi. The meeting here would also be attended by representatives of Sindh government, Karachi City District Government (CDGK) and CNG bus operators.
The meeting would discuss criteria of funding to the already delayed project and, if all issues are settled, the 500 environment-friendly buses would ply on the city's road during this month. Beside the funding issue of the project all other arrangements have already been finalised, and the Minister of Environment, Hameedullah Jaan Afridi, is much interested to start the project in the metropolis, sources said.
All studies and selection of CNG bus operators have also been completed by Karachi Mass Transit Cell (KMTC) of CDGK and the bus supply and manufacturing firms were also ready to run the buses soon after the resolution of the funding issue. Earlier, local and international commercial banks and development financial institutions (DFIs), led by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), had shown interest in providing loans to the pre-qualified manufacturers and suppliers of CNG buses.
Though the ground working for launching of the CNG buses project have been completed, it was needed to have the private public support to run these buses on at least 40 routes of the city. Sources said that the selected and qualified banks, led by SBP, in co-operation and co-ordination of Enercon, would provide 80 percent loans for the project.
The government would also provide subsidy of at least Rs 0.7million for each bus, while the private bus suppliers would facilitate the 20 percent equity, they added. According to the project, initially 500 CNG powered buses were to be run on the city routes and this number would be increased to 4000 during the next five years.
For the successful launching of the project, the co-ordination and help of other institutions, like Hydro-Carbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), Infrastructure Project Development Facility (IPDF) and Enercon were also sought. At least 14 private companies, including Midway Consortium, a Punjab-based CNG dedicated bus supplier which has good experience in operating such buses in Lahore and other cities of Punjab, had earlier shown interest to operate its buses in Karachi.
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