routes will be awarded through competitive bidding and a draft model concession agreement new delhi niti aayog the governments thinktank is firming up a plan to help state governments and local bodies all over the country to buy buses worth rs 11000 crore in a bid to improve public transport and revive demand for commercial vehicles niti aayog has prepared a plan for introduction of about 25000 buses for urban users these buses would be run on diesel a government official told etthese buses will be largely internal combustion enginebased ones helping the industry shed its inventory separate from the plan already in place to encourage a switchover to electric buses asimilar plan was implemented by the previous united progressive alliance government to help states purchase buses under the jawahar lal nehru national urban renewable mission after the 2008 financial crisis to boost the economy advt the countrys automobile sector has been hit by a slowdown with wholesale dispatches of passenger vehicles sales declining in september for the 11th straight month sales grew 15 in the festive season in october but experts said this may just be a blip an index of the countrys core industry sectors contracted in september by the most in 14 years experts fear q2 gdp growth numbers expected on november 29 may be slower than the 25quarter low of 5 in the first quarter the move to purchase buses is also expected to boost the public transport system and urban demand for commercial vehicles the cost of the scheme is estimated at about 10648 crore with the central governments share at rs 5241crore according to the draft guidelines formulated by niti aayog in october the exercise will be taken up on an operating expenditure model without any upfront cost to the state and central governments read alsogrowth rate will be 7 in h2 and 65 for full year rajiv kumar niti aayogwe must reach top 50 in ease of biz ranking next year and top 25 in next 3 yrs amitabh kant niti aayog niti proposes to encourage the private sector to procure buses and ply them on existing and new routes in a bid to boost lastmile connectivity and bridge a shortfall in public transportation however experts said it will be a challenge to attract private operators to invest capital the central and state governments shall jointly contribute towards operating expenses incurred by the private operators through an opex model where the operators will be paid on a perkm basis according to the guidelines a copy of which et reviewed advt routes will be awarded through competitive bidding and a draft model concession agreement valid for six years will be available for states to prepare specific agreements private players will come forward once they have the assurance of timely payments said a government official this can be done through an escrow account so far private companies have had a bad experience with state transport undertakings the reason why this model has not