Bengaluru: To facilitate ease in travel and provide comfort to passengers, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be adding 5172 new buses to its existing fleet by December this year, said the state transport minister.

Addressing the media at Vikas Soudha in the state capital, Minister Ramalinga Reddy said with the introduction of Metro rail services (purple and green metro lines) there was a considerable decline in bus passengers with revenue dipping by 3-4%. In fact, BMTC incurs a loss of Rs 5 lakh daily in providing feeder services, he said.

Centre used to provide considerable financial assistance for city transport under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the scheme that replaced JnNURM, Reddy said.  In the recent past the Centre has drastically reduced the financial assistance putting city transport system under stress, said Minister Ramalinga Reddy. Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu will be requested not to employ cuts during the next meeting with him, he added.

Around 52 lakh people use city transport across the state daily and 1.15 crore people travel in KSRTC buses every day, revealed minister Ramalinga Reddy. State Transport Corporation has started city services in 36 different cities of the state and added 116 new bus-stations to augment its services, Minister Reddy claimed.

On inter-corporation transfer of KSRTC employees, minister Reddy said 700 transfers had been withheld since some employees had failed to provide valid documents. All those employees have been given one more opportunity to fulfil the transfer criteria, minister Reddy stated.

The state transport corporation has bagged several awards for its excellence in many areas and even during last week KSRTC bagged 5 awards, he said.