Kochi: The cash-strapped KSRTC lost Rs 55.83- crore central government fund owing to its failure to purchase the required quota of buses under the JNNURM scheme.
The centre had sanctioned Rs 148.92 crore, which was not used in full. Now it has reduced the assistance to Rs 93.09 crore. The state only purchased 110 buses while the sanctioned number was 400.
The centre cut short the special assistance given under JNNURM scheme 2013 to Kerala for purchase of 400 low-floor buses for five cluster services.
As per the second scheme, central assistance worth Rs 148.92 crore was sanctioned to the state, out of which Rs 74.47 crore was released as first instalment. However, the state has so far purchased only 110 buses.
Now as per the order (K-14027/4/NURM-2015) dated September 14, the centre has reduced the assistance to half, that is Rs 93.09 crore of the total project cost of Rs 186.19 crore.
This was revealed in an RTI reply received by Mr K.P. Pradeep, a High Court practising lawyer, who is keeping a tab on the state government activity with regard to the JNNURM scheme.
The government wound up the scheme and started AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).
As per the new scheme, the earlier projects under JNNURM would be allowed to continue till March 31, 2017, but the fund would be reduced to fifty percent of the actual amount.
Recently, the state government had begun an SPV to operate the JNNURM buses in the state, namely KURTC.
The Kochi-based KURTC has violated the guidelines of JNNURM and now the 320 buses allotted to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram corporations are distributed across Kerala.
