Development and Management of Public Transportation System Chhattisgarh on Public Private Partnership

Dr. Sanjay Khare*

Associates Chartered Accountants, 235-236, 2^nd Floor, G.D. Plaza, Near Vivekanand Ashram, G.E. Road, Raipur (C.G.) 492001, India.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: sanjay_ns@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT:

This success story in public transport is based upon experience gained by the author during the Transaction Advisory for Operation and Management of Public Transportation System to be developed under Public Private Partnership in the year 2012. Author was appointed as Transaction Advisor for the said project from Municipal Corporation working under Urban Administration and Development, Government of Chhattisgarh. Author is a Chartered Accountant in India, running his own consultancy firm, consulting many government and private sector. He did doctorate on his thesis “Sustainable Infrastructure Development through Public Private Partnership.” He has vast experience of consulting public private projects and procurement consultancy. This success story is submitted with object to contribute for effective procurement process and promoting innovation in public transport systemin urban area through sharing of an innovative success story. Author firm Sanjay Khare and Associates had been appointed as Transaction Advisor by Raipur Municipal Corporation to consult, plan and structure public transportation system in Raipur City. The project was issued under the scheme of JNnURM phase – I by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. Raipur city was selected under the plan to operate urban busesas it isa capital city of Chhattisgarh State, which is one of the state in India having geographical area is around 13.6 million hectares of which cultivable land area is 5.8 Million hectares and forest land area is 6.8 Million hectares (about 44% of total area) with more than 20 Million population and about 70 percent of the population in the state is engaged in agriculture specially rice. Chhattisgarh is renowned for its excellent record of public order, harmony amongst its residence and generally peaceful ambience. This is one of the wealthiest states in India due to its abundance of minerals. Its major industries include steel, cement, aluminum and minerals as well as human resources and power-intensive industries, which place this state in prime positioning to become the main power supplier to the many states. After successful implementation of the Public Transport Project in Raipur city, “Sanjay Khareand Associates” Joint venture with DARASHAW and Company, Mumbai was appointed as ‘Consultant’ to replicate the same model for the entire state in the year 2013. New scheme was JNnURM phase – II by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India with few additional advantages and extended coverage of urban buses so that transport system would have been link city with sub-urban areas and buses were allowed to go beyond the municipal boundaries, which was not allowed in phase – I project. For the implementation of scheme to the entire state, all cities of the state were divided in to clusters and the state transport department in government gadgets notified the clusters in to urban agglomeration. The object of phase – II was to extent the service of public transport system to sub-urban area so that daily commuters of the sub-urban areas were not need to migrate to city for the permanent stay. They could come to city for the work and return back to their home at evening. The reason of the project was to minimize the pollution of the city area, traffic and transport control and the crowd management. Phase II project was assigned to us by State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), Government of Chhattisgarh with three Parts in which, first was to prepared Detailed Project Report for all the cities of the state and submit the same to Ministry

of Urban Development, New Delhi for the appraisal and sanction of number of buses as applied in the DPR. Second Part was to draft the Urban Transport Policy for the state. Third one was to select the operator for the operation and management of urban buses on Public Private Partnership model for which we prepared RFP Document for the selection of operator and drafted concession agreement to be executed with successful operator for the period of 10 years. The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, sanctioned 451 numbers of buses under phase II project. All Parts were completed from our side and buses were operational since 2015 and currently successfully operational in all cities in the state. Urban Administration and Development, Government of Chhattisgarh was received award of best urban transport system amongst all the state in the year 2015 from Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. I certify that the information provided by me is accurate and true.

Implementation of Public Transport System through Public Private Partnership:

Project: Operation and Management City Buses under Public Private Partnership. Procurement of buses has been done by Raipur Municipal Corporation in case of phase-I and State Urban Development Authority in case of Phase

II. In both cases, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, sanctioned funds for the purchase of buses under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

1. Definition and Brief Description:

Authority: Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC), Urban Administration and Development Government of Chhattisgarh in the year 2012 for Raipur City Phase – I project.

State Urban Development Agency (SUDA), Urban Administration and Development Government of Chhattisgarh in the year 2013 for entire State in Phase – II project.

Raipur: Raipur is the Capital City of Chhattisgarh State.

New Raipur: New Raipur is the New City developed after constitution of Chhattisgarh State. All the Government Offices, Chief Minister Secretariat, HOD Building and Residential Area have been developed in this new city in a planned manner.

JNNURM: Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is the scheme in which Central Government undertake various projects for the urban development.

MOUD: Ministry of Urban Development

GOI: Government of India

PPP (Public Private Partnership): It is contract between public sector and private entity in which private entity assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risk in the design, finance, built and operation of project.

RMC: Raipur Municipal Corporation

ULB: Urban Legislative Bodies – Raipur Municipal Corporation

SPV: Special Purpose Vehicle - RNNTL (Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited) NRDA: Naya Raipur Development Authority, constituted a agency for New Raipur. UAD: Urban Administration and Development, Chhattisgarh State.

SUDA: State Urban Development Agency, Chhattisgarh.

UPTCL: Urban Transport Consultancy P. Ltd. is Joint Venture Company to consult Phase II project.

Urban Agglomeration: Notifies area as urban area.

PPIAF (Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility): PPIAF is a multi-donor technical assistance facility that is financed by 17 multilateral and bilateral donors. It is a joint initiative of the governments of Japan and the United Kingdom

Phase I: It was actually JnNURM phase I project which launched by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in the year 2012 for the operation of city buses in Raipur city and between Raipur to New Raipur.

Phase II: It was JnNURM phase II project which was launched by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in the year 2013 for the operation of city buses in all cities of the Chhattisgarh.

Project Launching Year: Year 2012 for the Raipur City in Phase–I, and Year 2013 for the entire state in Phase-II.

2. OBJECT OF PROJECT:

The quality of life and economic vitality of the Municipality of Raipur were seriously threatened by the rapid growth in polluting two-wheelers, cars, and auto rickshaws. Increase number of vehicles resulting thousands of pre-mature deaths each year. An efficient mass transportation system was very much needed for sustainability of not only the economy of the city but also for reducing stress due to pollution on the environment and avoiding higher level of accidents.

Object of Phase II project was same as it were in phase I however one important additional advantage of Phase II was to stop migration of people from suburban areas to the urban area. Through using public transport system, sub- urban people could easily go to urban area by morning and return to home at evening without moving urban area for the permanent stay.

3. NEED ASSESSMENT:

Traffic flow in city was so increased which cause that any minor incident could bring traffic to a standstill for extended periods of time. Given these conditions, Raipur needed to explore immediately its options for improving easy access to the city and the New Raipur. Significant modal shift is needed to deliver national and international sustainable development aims for a strong economy, an inclusive society, and a clean environment. A significant trend amongst many urban road users had their willingness to use the public transport in the face of increasing traffic congestion and increasing ‘road-rage’ behavior on the roads. With the rising cost of fuel, many would shift to the public transport on cost considerations. It was assessed that if the new mode offers time improvements, cost saving and consistent public would like to shift towards using public transportation.

Status of Urban Transport Facility before 2012: Before 2012 a city bus operator was operating with 40 No. of buses which was insufficient looking to the demand of city. Moreover bus operator was not operating the buses in professional manner; the condition of buses was also not good.

Raipur Municipal Corporation in the year 2012 aims to bring about this modal shift in the city by improving the perceived image of city bus services through incorporation a new company M/s Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited with an object of provides efficient and reliable public transport services in the city of Raipur.

The detailed survey has been carried out with the help of officials of Raipur Municipal Corporation and consultant and it was assessed that at least 100 Number of city buses will be needed looking to the present need of public.

It was also assessed that out of total no. of buses, 35 buses shall be beg size for the running between Raipur and New Raipur and rest 65 of small size buses will be needed to operate within city. Small size buses would bring cheap fair and suitability to operate in city narrow roads.

To implement the ides, Raipur Municipal Corporation approached Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India for seeking fund for the procurement of city buses under the scheme of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNnURM). Ministry of Urban Development has sanctioned funds for the procurement of 100 buses under the scheme.

4. INTRODUCTION:

Urban Transport Project was the Central Government Project. Ministry of Urban Development (MOUD), Government of India, under the scheme namely ‘Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission’ sanctions the project. Under the scheme, State Government had to submit Detailed Project Report for their city and on that basis, project had to be sanctioned by MOUD.

Under the scheme, buses had funded by the Central Government whereas operation and maintenance had to be done by the Urban Legislative Bodies (ULB) under Public Private Partnership model. It was also advised under the scheme that ULB’s to make a separate special purpose vehicle for the management and control of the city buses. As per the scheme, before sanction of funds from MOUD for the purchase of the buses, SPV need to select operator through open bid system who will run the buses under public private partnership.

As per guidelines issued by MOUD, it was mentioned that State Government should run the urban buses under “Gross Cost Method.” Under this model bus operator had to operate and maintain the buses and fare would be collected by the ULB’s through appointing independent agency or by their own staff. Under Gross Cost, ULB will pay to bus operator a specific sum on the basis of running per kilometer.

Under Gross Cost Method, bus operator did not bother about number of commuters because his rewards were not connected with the number of users but to follow the roots and run the buses on timely manner. Fare fixation and collection was the ULB subject.

Chhattisgarh State selected Raipur City (Capital City of the Chhattisgarh State) for the project. As per initial survey, 100 numbers of busses were assessed looking to the population and area of the city. Out of total number of buses, 65 were midi buses and 35 were standard size buses.

5. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT:

The Institutional set-up for the urban transport is largely managed at the level of the state governments and local governments. The Central government intervenes through some centrally funded scheme like JnNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Scheme).

Phase I project was undertaken by local governments through formation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in the name of Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited (RNNTL).

State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) for Phase II project had formed 9 urban development societies for 21 clusters for the management and control of city buses, the name of societies was as follows:

1. Raipur Urban Public Transport Society

2. Bilaspur Urban Public Transport Society

3. Durg- Bhilai Urban Public Transport Society

4. Korba Urban Public Transport Society

5. Raigarh Urban Public Transport Society

6. Rajnandgaon Urban Public Transport Society

7. Surguja Urban Public Transport Society

8. Bastar Urban Public Transport Society

9. Koria Urban Public Transport Society

6. APPOINTMENT OF TRANSECTION ADVISOR:

JnNURM guidelines advised that ULB should appoint a ‘Transection Advisor’ to consult entire project. MOUD had taken a profession approach for the project and it was mentioned in the guidelines that a Transaction Advisor would be appointed to plan, structure and design the project. To began with Detailed Project Report and Feasibility Analysis of the project, Transaction Advisor would also prepare bid document and draft concession agreement for selection of private operator and conduct pre-bid meet and would help ULB-SPV for final selection of the private operator.

RNNTL has already appointed national level consultants as transection advisor two times but they were not made the project successful. They did, not do the prerequisite of the project to find out the bus operator first. Resulting

project was held up for a year and MOUD initiated transfer the project to NRDA (Naya Raipur Development Authority). This institution formed to manage New Capital area in the name of Naya Raipur. This was the big setback for Raipur Municipal Corporation and the Mayor of Raipur that they failed to bring the funds and to set up public facility in Raipur.

Mayor of Raipur wanted to take third and last chance and selected Sanjay Khare and Associates, Chartered Accountant as ‘Transaction Advisor’ for the Phase – I project. Letter of Appointment were issued on 20.07.2012.

7. OUTSTANDING NEW IDEAS OR APPROACHES:

As a Transection Advisor, the project was well discussed with the Mayor, Commissioner and concerning officials and other stakeholders and started structuring accordingly. I had to follow Urban Transport Guidelines issued from the MOUD, GOI while making the DPR. It was suggested in the guidelines that ULB to follow ‘Gross Cost Contract Model’ for operation of buses. Under gross cost contract model, ULB to pay bus operator on the basis of bus running per kilometer basis. Means operator will receive revenue from ULB according to his running of buses and will not collect fare from passengers. Fare from passenger will be collected by the ULB through appointing third party as collection agent.

When I were start working on revenue model, it was assessed that city buses will be running at least 200 KM per day within the boundary of Raipur Municipal Corporation. I studied Gross Cost Model effective in other cities and found that about 50 rupees were the minimum per kilometer charges applicable. Therefore for ULB, per month expenditure for operation of one bus comes to Rs. 260000 (be Rs. 200 KM x Rs. 50 x 26 days) and yearly Rs. 3120000/- .It would have 312000000/- for operating 100-city bus for the entire year.

As for as revenue generation from the buses in kind of fare collection from the passengers and advertisement, I was estimated per day was around Rs. 3000 per bus which comes to Rs. 75000 monthly and yearly would have Rs. 90000. For 100-city bus operation it was estimated that bus would generate Rs. 90000000/-. If advertisement revenue would be added, total revenue might not increase beyond Rs. 100000000/- yearly.

In view of above, yearly loss from operation of bus services comes to Rs. 212000000/- (about 21Crores) and during entire contract period of 10 years it comes to about 210Crores. Looking to such huge losses, it was clear that project was not financial sustainable for Raipur Municipal Corporation.

There was too much pressure on me to success the project as Mayor of Raipur was so keen about the project. In this situation, I was figuring out the solution so that I could make the project success and at the same time it would not create any losses.

As a part of advisory, various possible PPP structures in the urban bus transport sector were studied, and the applicability of these structures assessed in the context of the Raipur cities. To find out the unique solution, I start studying PPP model applied by the other countries too. I found a research paper of World Bank Group and PPIAF with reference to ‘PPP in Urban Bus Toolkit’ in which ‘Net Cost Contract Model’ was mentioned. I studied thoroughly and found that if this contract would apply, no losses will be incurred by the Raipur Municipal Corporation. In reverse, if the Net Cost Contract will apply, it will generate profit to the Raipur Municipal Corporation and that is without any burden of maintenance and management of the project.

Under net-cost contract model the operator will not get any amount against his services from Raipur Municipal Corporation and retains all revenue realize from the passengers. In place of getting any amount from the Authority, operator should pay Royalty to the Authority in account of Root Authorization Fees.

So it was clear that if Net Cost Contract Model would apply, it would make project sustainable. This contract system would also suitable for the operator too as revenue realization would be done from the operator itself. Under this contract system, operator would have to quote monthly royalty, which he will pay to the authority. The bidder who will quote highest quote will get the project. In addition successful bidder would pay up-front fees to the authority at the time of signing the concession agreement with authority.

8. BEGINNING OF CONSULTANCY - THE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION:

I start working on making Revenue Model and Detailed Project Report following the Net Cost Contract model. DPR was submitted with Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited and afterward Commissioner of Raipur Municipal Corporation, who was also the Managing Director of Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited submit the same with MOUD for the appraisal and sanction of the project.

After submission of the DPR with MOUD, one week later, Joint Secretary, MOUD called the Commissioner, RMC and said that he is not going to sanction of DPR, he said that DPR is not prepared on the basis of Gross Cost Contract basis hence liable for rejection.

At the same time Raipur Mayor received letter from MOUD regarding intention of shifting of fund from RMC to NRDA due to delay in submission of correct DPR.

It was challenging and tough situation for me as a consultant. At the one side I had to success the project and the other side, if I would follow the MOUD guideline while preparing the revenue model and the DPR, project was not seem financially feasible.

Mayor wishes that I should to go to MOUD, GOI, Delhi along with her to represent the case with Urban Development Minister. Now there was two agenda for the project, one was to bring the fund back to RMC and second to conciliate Joint Secretary, MOUD for Net Cost Contract model in place of Gross Cost model.

We went to Delhi, and met Minister of Urban Development, Government of India and represent the case before him. We furnished all the documents prepared and reflect future preparation to success the project. Hon’ble Minister was well conveyance with our representation, and assured us to re allocate the funds to Raipur Municipal Corporation for 100-bus project.

After that we met Joint Secretary, Urban Development and submit the reason behind adaptation of Net Cost Contract Model in place of Gross Cost Model. We submitted financial strength and budget provision for the urban buses of the Raipur Municipal Corporation, revenue model in net cost and gross cost contract system, loss proposition in case of adopting gross cost contract and state government budget allocation for the urban transport system with him. After putting all the papers and replied their cross question, he conveyance with us and allowed us to follow Net Cost model. He asked me that since project is held up for about a year because RNNTL did not select operator for the bus operation on PPP model, we should submit a undertaking that within three months, operator will be selected and project will be operational within four months time period. It was very tough, however after Mayor acceptance on the matter, we filed an undertaking for the same. Afterward Joint Secretary, MOUD assured us that he would sanction our Detailed Project Report.

It was first time in my professional life; our visit to Delhi was bringing extreme level of challenges and worries. Through that experience, it was proved that innovation and new approach is very essential in any kind of project. It was also apparent that when we come forward with solution on critical issues, hire level authorities understands and appreciate.

After meeting with Joint Secretary, their Under Secretary called me to get permission to provide copy of my DPR to the other States. After my consent, DPR was circulated to many ULB’s to structure and plan on Net Cost Contract Model if required.

9. STRUCTURING THE PROJECT:

Now when procurement of buses has been sanctioned, the issue were arises for the operation and management of the same. Raipur Municipal Corporation or RNNTL did not have expertise in operation and management of buses therefore in that situation Public Private Partnership model was best suitable in which buses would be operate and managed by Private Entity under concession agreement. It was decided that an experienced private partner would be selected through open bid system to operate and manage city bus services in Raipur.

It was structured that after procurement of buses by Raipur RNNTL it would be made available to the selected private operator, who will operate the said buses under PPP. The contract document was designed with the provision

that selected private operator will have to incur all the expenses in connection with the operations and maintenance including payment of all applicable taxes. He shall also develop necessary infrastructure facility such as workshop/depot/ terminal and necessary value-added services such as, ITS, Vehicle tracking system, Central Control, Station Passenger Information Management System, Communication Sub System, Travel Demand Management, Incident and Emergency Management System, Operational and Maintenance Specification Fleet Management System. For setting up these facilities and parking of buses, Raipur Municipal Corporation through Raipur Nagar Nigam Transport Limited would provide open land and premises.

In return for this, the operator would be allowed to collect appropriate fares from the passengers as notified by Raipur Nagar Nigam Private Limited and also get a share in the revenue generated from advertisement on buses. The Buses would be transferred to the Bus Operator after 10 years of Bus Operation Agreement Period on no cost. Up-front premium decided in the bid document was Rs. 3.60 Crores. Financial bid was invited for rout authorization fees and that bidder who quote maximum financial bid (H1) would be selected as successful bidder.

10. EVIDENCE MEASURABLE AND SIGNIFICANT RESULTS:

Bid has been issued and responded by private entities engaged in bus operation business in three separate state of India. Since final decision had to be made on the basis of highest financial bid hence after opening of technical bid, financial bid was opened and a bid with Rs. 5000/- per month per bus was found to be highest and selected as successful bidder. Concession agreement with successful bidder was signed for the period of 10 years. As per the term and condition successful bidder had deposited non-refundableup-front premium in the ratio of bus handed over to him for the operation, the total of which was Rs. 3.60 Crores ($36 Millions).

RNNTL start receiving Rs. 5 Lacs as monthly root authorization fees from 100-city bus operation. It became yearly Rs. 60 Lacs ($ 6 Millions) and total was Rs. 6 Crores (60 Million dollars) for the entire contract period of 10 years.

Advertisement was another revenue streams for the project. Operator was allowed to allot outer portion of bus body to hire to advertisement agencies. It was mentioned in the tender document as well in the concession agreement that advertisement revenue will be shared between authority and operator in the ration of 25:75. Operator got good amount of advertisement collection and about 4 crores were the total collection received from RNNTL in account of advertisement right.

Total revenue realization in the project is about Rs.15 Crores (6 + 3.60 + 4 + 1.4 being Interest on investment of fund). So where losses were assessed in the project was about Rs. 210 crores (2100 Millions Losses) for 10 years contract period, project generate Rs. 15 Crores net profit (150 Millions Profit). RNNTL do not need to incur any overhead expenses as it was structured that everything will be bear by the bus operator.

Innovation and new approached were worked. The operator itself would earn lots of money from the project. He expands his business in several other states after getting Raipur project. He also took project of other cities of Chhattisgarh when Phase – II project were launched in the year 2013-14.

11. IMPORTANT DATES:

City Bus Project for Raipur City under Phase I and Consultant for Entire State under Phase II

Particular	Date for Phase I	Date for Phase II
Date of receipt of appointment letter for Transaction Advisor for said project	20.07.2012	24.08.2013
Date of Commencement of Project/ Sanction by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India	01.11.2012	13.01.2014
Completion of Consultancy Services	06.07.2013	03.07.2018

12. PROBLEMS AND THEIR MITIGATION STEPS IN PHASE - I PHASE:

From the inception of the Phase I Project till the successful completion following problems has been arises and steps has been taken to mitigate that problems:

Problem No. 1: Project was pending since 2009 and many consultants have been appointed but they could not perform. When the city bus department in charge recommends for appointment of Transaction Advisor for operation and management the question was raised from higher authority that why previous consultant was not completed the project and what are the possibility that newly appointed consultant will perform.

Mitigation Step: Department in charge has answered that if local based experience transaction advisor would have selected the chances of failure of project could be minimize. Since the project was pending since 2009, during the process the Urban Ministry, Govt. of India has issued the letter for cancellation of sanction of fund. In this situation Mayor of Raipur and Consultant rush to ministry and convinced the ministry and given undertaking that project shall be completed within time. Ministry has re-sanctioned the fund and given strict deadline to complete the project. Project was completed on timely manner with deadlines.

Problem No. 2: In Raipur City there was already one operator who operating 40 number of buses in the city on conventional modal. The present operator was captured busy routs and not ready to negotiate with the proposed operator. Moreover in consideration of permission of city buses on urban roads he had to pay royalty to Raipur Municipal Corporation but he denied paying the same since more than 3 years and case was pending with court of law.

Mitigation Step: Bid document was structured in such a way so that conflict between present bidder and proposed bidder could be shorted out. The designing of routs were planed so that conflict with regards of routs could have not risen. On busy routs where present operator was operating, the timing of running the buses was designed so that at one time only one operator could operate the bus.

Problem No. 3: Earlier many incidences took place in the city with regards of operation of buses, if two operators will be allowed for the operation in the city an unpredictable situation may be happened between both.

Mitigation Step: Raipur Municipal Corporation was committed to provide best public transportation system to the city hence was prepared to take strong action if any interference would have been raised by present operator. Present operator were attended pre-bid meet for operation and management of buses with the other interested bidders and it was tried by authority and consultant that open discussion between present operator and participants would able to solve any unpredictable incidence in future.

Problem No. 4: For supply of total 100 numbers of buses, two suppliers were selected through open bidding system one is Ashok Leyland for 35 no. of big size buses and another called Mahendra Navigator for supply of 65 no. of small size buses. The Ashok Leyland is established company but Mahendra Navigator is the new company in manufacturing of buses and Raipur Municipal Corporation was the first organization in Country who has ordered this company for the supply of buses. In this condition no prospective bidder have relied the credibility upon the company and made pessimistic approach.

Mitigation Step: In pre-bid meeting of operators with prospective bidder the officials of the Mahendra Navigator have called and they could able to convince all prospective bidder with the quality of buses manufactured by company. They also assured about after sale services and committed to extend all possible efforts on after same service through their local dealer.

Problem No. 5: The population of Raipur City is about 20Lacs (2 Millions) and already one operator was operating 40 No. of buses, in this condition prospective bidders were afraid of financial viability of the project. Prospective bidders also afraid of operation of buses between Raipur and New Raipur because development in New Raipur was in process and no public were start moving there for the stay except shifting of Secretariat Building and few government offices from Raipur to New Raipur. About 2000 employees were proposed to be working at secretariat and government offices and they were the prospective commuters to use public transportation as a means of travelling. It was advised in bid document that operator will operate 35 big size buses between Raipur and Naya Raipur for the use of secretariat and other government staff and additionally public would also need to go to the secretariat for their work. The distance between Raipur and Secretariat building is about 30 KM. Prospective bidders afraid about financial viability in operation of buses on this rout because of less no. of travelers.

Mitigation Step: We have carried out financial feasibility study and prepared detailed project report on the basis of actual survey. As per revenue model prepared by us it was clearly indicated that the project is financially viable. To solve the issue related to transportation of passengers to secretariat comprises government employee and outsiders visitors, a MOU has been initiated between NRDA and Raipur Municipal Corporation in which minimum fare was decided against each government passengers and accordingly passes has been made and payment of fare against

these passes were committed by the NRDA to RNNTL on monthly basis. State Government intended to facilitate government employees for going to new Raipur on daily basis, therefore passes was sponsored by the State Government and that fixed and guaranteed revenue given strength of the viability of the project.

MOU between RNNTL and NRDA was successfully executed and NRDA started paying to the bus operator Rs. 1500 per government employees on monthly basis after submission of bills by the operator with RNNTL.

13. APPRECIATIONS FOR PHASE I PROJECT COMPLETION:

I received appreciation from Mayor of Raipur and Commissioner, Raipur Municipal Corporation for the successful completion of the Phase – I project. In addition, we also did DPR and bid document for many connected project such as depot development, advertisement on bus, seeking funds from MOUD, GOI. Commissioner, RMC was also appreciated for that.

14. JNNURM PHASE - II PROJECT:

Phase II JnNURM was launched in the year 2013 for the whole States, unlike phase – I, which was for the particular city only. Chhattisgarh State was in the race of getting Phase – II project for all the cities in the state. The experienced gained in the Phase – I project fixed a good example in the eyes of the department of Urban Administration and Development (UAD).

UAD has initiated appointment of Consultant through its separate agency namely “State Urban Development Agency” (SUDA) and issued EOI for the same. I have participated through my CA Firm ‘Sanjay Khare and Associates’ and my consultancy company ‘Chill Corporate Consultancy P. Ltd’ (family owned in which I’m one of director and other one is my wife Nidhi in the capacity of a lawyer)and made Joint Venture (JV) with Mumbai Based “DARASHAW and Company.” We formed a new joint venture company in the name of “Urban Public Transport Consultancy Private Limited,”(UPTCL) kept my own office as registered office of the company.

So Phase - II project consulted by joint venture of Sanjay Khare and Associates, DARASHAW and Company and Chill Corporate Consultancy P. Ltd through formation of JV in the name of UPTCL. We were selected as consultant on technical and financial ground and started working in the project since the month of August 2013.

15. OBJECT OF JNNURM PHASE II PROJECT:

It is previously mentioned that Phase II project launched by the MOUD, GOI with noble object. It was come with the vision that sub-urban people should not forcefully migrate to the urban area. Living in the sub urban area is cheaper as compared to urban area. As for as environment and peace of life, living in sub-urban areas would always good.

Transportation is the basic and foremost problem of people living in sub urban areas because most of the people depend upon urban areas for their livelihood. They come to urban areas either for the employment or for the vocation. Majority of sub urban people hardly afford cycle and very few can buy two-wheeler. Energy and time spend to travel 30-40 KM going and coming is again a big problem for the sub-urban people. They also encounters with large number of accidents mostly when they return to home at evening time.

Phase II project allowed ULB’s to cover sub-urban area within span of 30 KM, this was the beauty of Phase II project. To begin with, entire state was distributed in to 21 clusters and every cluster notified as urban agglomeration so that buses can move in the cluster on legal way.

In phase ii project we had to given three Part as follows

1. DPR Development for all the cities of the state. Submit the DPR to MOUD, GOI for the appraisal.

2. Drafting Urban Transport Policy for the state.

3. Procurement consultancy for the purchase of buses (total 451 buses were sanctioned) and then selection of operator for the operation and management of buses.

We undertake all three Parts in the name of UPTCL. For the better understanding we made one MOU for phase ii project in which my CA firm ‘Sanjay Khareand Associates’ and company ‘Chill Corporate Consultancy P. Ltd. were responsible for Part i and iii and to give support to DARASHAW for Part i I for drafting of urban transport policy. My wife joined in the company as Lawyer and we both were joined as Director of the company.

16. NEW CHALLENGES:

This project came with new challenges. Since we have got experience in Phase – I project, hence we were comfortable in making of DPR and doing entire procurement consultancy for the purchase of buses and selection of operator.

But the challenge lies in this project was its timing. We got the award letter on 24.08.2013 and we had been asked to submit all 21 DPR’s within the period of 2 months. Within that much of short period, we had to make survey all 21 cities and assessed the requirement of number of buses. We had to obtained various information about city population, area, habitats, economy, pattern, livelihood, sex ration, education level, number of private and commercial vehicles registered education institution, commercial activities, floating population, road network and so many things to assess the number of buses required and their routes.

The reason of limited time allowed was so many. First was the late decision of the government to go for the project and secondly the policy of Central Government, in which they have earmarked 10000/- buses for the Phase II project and allotment would be bases on the first cum first serve basis. Therefore every state was hurry to prepare DPR and submit the same with MOUD for the appraisal and sanction.

SUDA had lots of expectation from us for the success of the project. We had also very much keen to success the project and ready to consume our full strength and experience.

17. DIFFICULTIES DURING FULFILLING DREAMS:

Within two weeks from the date of award of the project, a very serious incidence took place in my house. LPG cylinder was leaked at morning time in house when maid was replacing new cylinder in kitchen. New cylinder started leaking gas with force and within fraction of seconds kitchen became full of gas. I tried to cover the cylinder with my hand. The flow of gas was so much and my hand was not able to stop it. Now I had only one option to throw the cylinder through balcony adjacent to kitchen. When I picked the cylinder to take it to balcony it was fall on my foot due to gas flow on my mouth. I again picked the cylinder and throw it from the balcony to the ground floor towards a small home garden just below to our kitchen. Cylinder was blow down on soil in the garden and gas was passed very fast resulting cylinder became empty within few minutes.

Due to fall of cylinder on my left foot, the bone was fractured which was required surgery in which surgeon-aligned bone and tied it through a nail. Next three months I was working about 14 hours a day with broken bone in my foot. Now when I look back, I feel happy towards my extreme level of sincerity, when I asked my wife to leave me at office just after the surgery. My physical problem could not reduced my passion of working, I used walker for about 3 months for going office and to attend meetings with SUDA and other agencies. I was so concern about the timing of the project. I travelled so many times to Delhi for the submission and appraisal of the DPR using wheel chair on airport.

After under the initiative, we worked very closely with various departments. Afterword project has been designed which has most suitable and feasible for implementation looking to the field reality of the cities. With all sorts of difficulties, we got success in getting approval of all the 21 DPR’s and received sanction letter in Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) meeting held on 13.01.2014 in Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi in the office of MOUD, GOI.

18. REPLICATION OF RAIPUR CITY BUS PROJECT:

Phase – II project was replication of Raipur City Bus phase I project in terms of adaptation of Net Cost Contract Model, PPP Solution, revenue sharing of advertisement income and upfront non-refundable premium.

While assessing the size and type of buses, we were suggested to have air-conditioned buses in proportion of total number of buses. Airport, railway station, and bus stands were linked with city bus services. To make better control, setting up control room were suggested which linked with ITS.

Under Part ii, Urban Transport Policy for the State was drafted with help of DARASHAW and Company. In the policy so many things were included for the long sustainability of the project. Bus stops on PPP mode were

suggested, passengers fare price were linked with diesel prices, arterial and sub-arterial roads were segregated for the entire cities, public transport feeder network were suggested and focused was there to make the city bus services self sustainable.

In Part iii, tender for the procurement of 451 buses were prepared and floated, which was responded by all the big bus manufacturer such as Tata, Ashok Leyland, Swaraj Mazda. Selection of air-conditioned and non air-conditioned buses was made on the basis of technical and financial bid. Agreement and annual maintenance contract were prepared and executed with successful bus manufacturers. Buses were supplied by the selected manufactured within time schedule.

As a part of Part iii, after executing agreement with bus manufactured for the procurement of buses, RFP for the selection of bus operator were prepared and issued. It was responded well by the local and national level operators. Since through publicizing phase I project, Chhattisgarh State was well known for the national level bus operator hence we did not face any problem in receiving bids for this time. Success of phase I project was also a good example for the prospective bidders for attract them to invest in the state. In the year 2015 private operator were selected for all the clusters. In all the places bid from the operator were called on Net Cost Contract basis. Bid for monthly royalty were received looking to the size and population and other parameter of the cities. Buster area, being disturb due to Nexlites, though less number of buses were suggested even operator were submit the bid and selection were made on the basis of highest quote.

Selection had been made one by one for all the clusters of the state and concession agreement were signed with them. Operator engaged in Raipur City Bus Operation in Phase I project was also filed bids for many clusters and on the basis of his technical capabilities and financial proposal (being H1) he got project in about 4 clusters.

19. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT:

We successfully delivered all the three Parts. The Committee constituted by the UAD approved urban Transport Policy. All clusters received operators to operate urban buses at designated routs as mentioned in the tender document. City buses in all the clusters were start operational from the year 2015.

On 21^st November, Director, Urban Admiration and Development received letter from MOUD regarding selection of Chhattisgarh State for “Best City Bus Service” category amongst all the states.

20. WINING OF NATIONAL AWARD FROM MOUD, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA:

For the best city bus project, Chhattisgarh State amongst all the states, were awarded by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India in the November 2015. It was really a matter of pride that state has got national award amongst all the states and we worked for that.

Besides that this project was a great project due to its object of being increasing accessibility to suburb area and neighbor villages through extending bus transit service by Government on reasonable price.

21. CONCLUSION:

I am confident that the model, which we had suggested and implemented successfully in phase I and II project, may be useful for the other Municipal Corporations of urban local bodies or any transport division of State Government in India or elsewhere. I opined that it is India’s best modal in public transportation.

There are massive shortage of infrastructure development and service delivery system in the developing and under develop countries hence Government may include Public Private Partnership for their growth modal. Adaptation of the PPP model is even though better for the larger benefit of the community and economic reform.

22. REFERENCE:

1. Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development. Detailed Guidelines for Financing of Buses for Urban Transport Systems under JnNURM, Jan 2009.

2. Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development. Guidelines for Purchases of Buses and Ancillary Infrastructure for Urban Transport Systems under JnNURM, May 2013.

3. Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development. National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC) – Working Group on Urban Transport. Dec 2011.

4. Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development. National Urban Transport Policy. 2006.