Sri Lanka Transport Board to buy luxury bus fleet to uplift the state operated bus service
Sri Lanka’s Transport Minister Arjuna Ranatunga has reportedly stated that the state operated Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) would buy 2,000 luxury buses since people were moving more towards private transport due to the poor service of the state bus fleet.
“I have already put a cabinet paper to call for EOIs for 2000 high-end luxury buses and then low floor buses mainly targeting disabled people in the city limits,” Ranatunga has been quoted as saying.
There is a Rs. 1.5 billion allocation for buses in the 2019 budget, he has noted.
Sri Lanka’s state operated buses are in direct competition with private buses and more people are moving away from the state bus service due to the poor services and lack of comforts.
According to reports, in 2018 state buses had operated 446 million kilometers, which is a decline of 0.8 percent from a year earlier, while passenger kilometers had dropped 1.8 percent to Rs. 15.5 billion.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka is engaged in an aggressive development programme covering the entire country and is also looking at uplifting the country’s key economic sectors. This has resulted in the supplementary infrastructure development as well. All these are indicative of the growing business/investment opportunities for foreign businesses/investors to explore.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/07082019/Z_5 |