Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today gave his in principle nod for establishment of the Bus Rapid Transit System at Amritsar and Ludhiana at a cost of Rs 500 crore. Reviewing the status of the BRTS project at a high level meeting here, Mr. Badal asked the PWD department, which will be executing agency for the project, to start work on the project and complete the same within twelve months. According to the proposal 78 air conditioned buses would be operational in Amritsar and would cover 31 kilometer route. He said in Ludhiana a 48 kilometer route had been identified for BRTS and the finalization of technical plans for the system were in an advanced stage of completion.
Informing that the Bus Rapid Transit System was being launching in Amritsar and Ludhiana as a pilot project, Mr. Badal said the same would be replicated in Jalandhar and Mohali after execution of the project in Amritsar and Ludhiana.Mr. Badal said the BRTS project planned for Amritsar and Ludhiana was the world’s most preferred transport system and that a delegation of the Punjab Government had recently conducted an in-depth analysis of this system in Istanbul. He said BRTS project was successfully transporting more than 7.5 lakh people every day in Istanbul. Prominent amongst those were present in the meeting Mr. P.S. Aujla, Secretary PWD, Mr. Anurag Aggarwal, Secretary PIDB, Mr. Priyank Bharti, Director Local Bodies, Mr. Ajay Mahajan, Special Principal Secretary to Deputy CM and Mr. DPS Kharbanda, Commissioner Amritsar Corporation.