Over two years after the Delhi government decided to revamp its existing Inter-State Bus Terminals and built two more on the city outskirts, the plan to ensure better connectivity for the Capital might finally take off.

Responding to the Delhi government’s proposal, the NCR Planning Board has agreed to step in and provide the government around Rs 300 crore to revive the project, which was nearly shelved due to a lack of investors and funds.

“We have asked the NCR Planning Board to step in and they have agreed to consider funding the projects for us. We will soon be making a presentation before them and then discuss the details of funding,” said R K Verma, the Transport Principal Secretary-cum-Commissioner.

He, however, added that no amount has been sanctioned so far.

According to Delhi government officials, the amount sanctioned will first be used to redevelop the ISBTs at Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan and make them functional to capacity. Bus terminals will then be built at Dwarka (Sector 22) and Narela.

The terminals at Dwarka and Narela were to be developed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis through a public-private partnership, but officials said the overall response to the request for quotations (RFQs) that was released in July 2008 had been poor due to the economic downturn.

The Dwarka ISBT will be built for buses coming in from Rajasthan and Haryana; the one at Narela is meant to handle movement of vehicles from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Due to its proximity to the Delhi airport, the proposed terminal at Dwarka was supposed to have a commercial complex, including a hotel for revenue purposes. But with no hoteliers coming forward to express interest, the Delhi Integerated Multi-modal Transit system (DIMTS), a special purpose vehicle created to carry out the redevelopment project, had to consider dropping the plan later.

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