AMTS presents ₹991 cr budget as total debt mounts to ₹5,092 cr

The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS), once regarded as the backbone of the city’s public transport system, has presented a draft budget of ₹991 crore for the financial year 2026–27, even as its total debt has risen to ₹5,092 crore over the past six years.

The budget, placed before the authorities by the transport manager on Wednesday, includes a proposal to borrow ₹600 crore from the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) next year. This additional borrowing will further add to the transport utility’s already heavy debt burden.

AMTS has set a target to increase the number of buses operating on city roads to around 1,600 in the next year. However, the growing reliance on loans has raised concerns about the long-term financial sustainability of the service.

At one time, the entire AMTS fleet was owned and operated by the municipal corporation. Citing mounting losses, the management later brought in private contractors to run buses. At present, only about 100 to 125 buses owned by the civic body are in operation, while an estimated 700 to 800 buses are run by private operators. Despite this shift towards privatisation, AMTS’s financial position has continued to deteriorate, with debt steadily increasing instead of declining.

Despite its fragile finances, AMTS has outlined new initiatives in the draft budget. The service plans to expand operations to newly merged areas of the AMC and aims to increase the total fleet to 1,900 buses within a year. 

A key long-term goal is to transition the entire fleet to electric buses by 2030. As part of this plan, 225 new electric buses are proposed to be inducted over the next year. In addition, the transport utility has set a target to make all municipal buses air-conditioned by 2032.

However, critics have pointed out that the budget does not include any concrete roadmap to pull AMTS out of losses. Instead, the proposed borrowing of ₹600 crore next year represents a sharp increase from the ₹412 crore loan taken in the previous year, amounting to an additional ₹188 crore in debt. Observers warn that this approach could push the transport service deeper into financial distress.

Meanwhile, similar public transport bodies such as Indian Railways and the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation had faced comparable challenges in the past but managed to improve their financial health after sustained corrective measures. No such decisive steps appear to have been proposed for AMTS so far.

Budget highlights

–Electric buses to operate on both banks of the Sabarmati Riverfront

–Special bus services for heritage and tourism destinations

–Establishment of a training centre for drivers and conductors

–Expansion of the fleet to 1,600 buses within a year

–All buses to be air-conditioned by 2032

–Induction of 225 new electric buses in the next financial year

–Increased service frequency based on route analysis

–New depot terminus planned near the Sarkhej crossroads

–Solar-powered charging stations at Jamalpur, Vasna, Vadaj and –Memnagar depots

–Development of a multi-modal bus port on the ring road

–Construction of 300 new mini decorative bus shelters