The Delhi Transport Department has sent a proposal to Lieutenant Governor TS Sandhu for final approval to start inter-state bus services between Delhi and Bihar, officials told news agency PTI on Wednesday.The proposed service, part of the next phase of Delhi's inter-state bus rollout, is expected to begin before the Chhath festival. The Delhi and Bihar governments have approved a Memorandum of Understanding for the project.Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Singh said more than 50 air-conditioned luxury buses were initially planned for seven destinations in Bihar.“We have a target to launch these buses before the Chhath festival this year; these will be AC luxury buses, and initially we plan to roll out over 50 buses to seven locations in Bihar.

We have sent the proposal for approval to Sandhu; hopefully it will be approved soon,” he said. The Transport Department had earlier said the buses would connect Delhi with Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Purnia and Bhagalpur.Officials told PTI that the government expects the service to benefit passengers and increase the revenue of the Delhi Transport Corporation.

The number of buses could be increased depending on the response. Volvo buses will operate on the long-distance routes as electric buses are not considered feasible at present because of inadequate charging infrastructure.“The long-route buses will be 12 metres long, air-conditioned, and equipped with luggage space.

It is not feasible to ply electric buses to far-off locations because of the lack of charging infrastructure,” the officials said.“We plan to take buses on a wet-lease model, wherein a concessionaire will come on board and operate the buses for us. These will be BS-VI compliant buses,” they added.

Under this arrangement, a private operator will provide and run the buses for the government.The Delhi government had earlier announced inter-state bus services to Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun in Uttarakhand; Panipat in Haryana; Ayodhya, Lucknow and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh; and Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jammu.The proposed Delhi-Bihar service will initially use more than 50 air-conditioned buses, with its launch planned before Chhath, subject to final approval from the Lieutenant Governor.- Ends