Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will virtually inaugurate and flag off 31 new state buses belonging to North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) on 7 February. The NBSTC chairman Partha Pratim Roy said, “Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will virtually inaugurate and flag off 31 new state buses on 7 February afternoon.

The NBSTC officials will be present at the Central Bus Terminus at Cooch Behar headquarters to flag off other new buses for distribution to different divisions.” “Besides, CM Ms Banerjee will virtually lay foundation stone for the construction of boundary wall and renovation works for the NBSTC depot located at Mallaguri in Siliguri and renovation of Balurghat NBSTC Terminal,” NBSTC chairman Mr Roy said, adding, “The estimated cost for the development of Mallaguri depot is Rs 1 crore and Rs 68.49 lakh has been estimated for Balurghat depot.”

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According to NBSTC chairman, Cooch Behar division will be getting 10 new buses. Siliguri division, Raiganj division and Berhampur division will be getting seven new buses each. “We have planned to provide nine new buses to replace older ones equally for Cooch Behar, Kolkata , AlipurduarKolkata and Siliguri-Ranchi routes.

New buses will also ply from Balurghat to Kolkata under Raiganj division, Suri to Siliguri and Ranaghat to Siliguri under Berhampur division.” “The state government will also allocate funds for development of NBSTC’s Maynaguri, Dalkhola and Krishnanagar bus stand,” NBSTC chairman said, adding, “We will be getting 12 new buses for Rocket service, including three air conditioned buses in the second phase shortly. At least 30 more semi-deluxe buses will be available within three months.”

Addressing the sources, the NBSTC chairman also showcased a report card of the corporation under his leadership in the last 2.5 years. “The NBSTC has earned revenue of Rs 15 crore per month. It has earned revenue of Rs 16 crore in May 2022, December 2022 and in March 2023. Though it earned Rs 17 crore in May 2023, in December 2023 it was Rs 16 crore,” Mr Roy claimed. “While the expense is estimated at Rs 27 per km, the NBSTC’s rate of earning per km is 30.45.

It is a remarkable achievement,” he added. Official records show a total number of NBSTC buses was 714. It would be 745 by adding 31 new one. A total of 641 buses ply out of the 714. The NBSTC has 2706 staff members. Of them 482 staff members are permanent, 1763 are contractual and 461 men work for the NBSTC from agencies