The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) is negotiating with the World Bank for a Rs 125 crore loan to fund its expansion plans.
The draft agreement of the loan document is now being discussed between both sides.
S S Kshatriya, general manager, BEST, said, "Right now we are examining this draft document and will revert to the World Bank after a proper study. Most of the loan amount will be utilised for financing the acquisition of buses."
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He was speaking at a press conference here after recently taking over from Rahul Asthana as the general manager.
BEST has chalked out an expansion plan of adding another 650 buses to its fleet. About Rs 118 crore of the World Bank loan amount will be utilised for this expansion.
The undertaking is planning to introduce buses which utilise innovative technology as a part of its fleet expansion plan. The sellers of these buses will be selected through the competitive bidding route.
Kshatriya categorically ruled out the possibility of privatising BEST. "There is no such proposal being considered. However, outsourcing is possible. This is not the same as privatisation," he said.
The undertaking posted a deficit of Rs 132 crore last year. Kshatriya said that about Rs 20 crore of this was due to the rise in diesel prices.
BEST apart from plying buses in the city is also one of the licensees for supplying power in the city. It has recently awarded the right of way for laying an optic fibre network along its distribution system to the Tata Power Company.
Its other recent initiative has been to offer the bus tickets as a medium for advertising.