Lucknow: The cabinet on Tuesday approved the development of 49 bus stations of the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode and based on the DBFOT (Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer) model.Transport minister Dayashankar Singh said the cabinet approved three proposals submitted by the transport corporation.The other two proposals were about providing land free of cost for construction of bus stations in Narora in Bulandshahr, and Tulsipur and Sikandrarao tehsils in Balrampur and Hathras, respectively.The 49 stations will be developed under the second phase of the PPP scheme for the development of bus stations. The development of 23 bus stations under the first phase was approved in the previous year.“Passengers at these bus stations will have access to state-of-the-art amenities, like shopping malls and cinema halls,” said the minister.The terms and conditions for investors have been relaxed to encourage more of them to participate in the bidding process.Regarding the second proposal approved by the cabinet, The bus depot slated for development in Bulandshahr was operating on land from NPCIL, whose lease have expired. As a result, more than 1 hectare of land belonging to the irrigation department in Narora will be transferred for the purpose.Then, in response to persistent demands by passengers for a well-organised bus station near the Devi Patan Temple, 2 hectares of land belonging to the Public Works Department (PWD) in Tulsipur will be transferred to the transport department free of cost. In the Sikandrarao tehsil, about 10 hectares of land in the villages of Ratanpur and Hussainpur will be transferred free of cost to the department.These depots will be developed as economic hubs (featuring shops and food courts), thereby providing passengers with accessible, affordable and safe transport facilities. “The initiative will lead to an increase in direct and indirect employment opportunities at the local level. Through these commercial activities, the revenue of the transport corporation will also rise,” said the minister.
