Amid rising debt and losses, 5,000+ AMTS buses deployed for government programmes in seven months

More than 5,700 Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) buses were reportedly used for various government programmes between May 2024 and January 2025, as per official data.

According to reports, on several occasions councillors were instructed to arrange buses ward-wise, with some chairpersons directed to provide as many as 15 buses for events. For the Prime Minister’s scheduled programme in Nikol on Monday, each ward has reportedly been asked to provide three buses, raising concerns about disruption to daily commuters.

Sources in the department estimate that on such days, nearly three lakh passengers may face difficulties in accessing regular bus services.

AMTS, which is already burdened with a corporate loan debt of over ₹4,000 crore and daily losses exceeding ₹1 crore, continues to struggle with service delivery. Apart from its iconic double-decker buses, most of the fleet is reportedly operated by private contractors, running around 880 buses across routes.

In a recent Standing Committee meeting, it was decided that the corporation would release ₹6.61 crore to AMTS for providing these special buses, though the amount will be adjusted against its outstanding loan.

Bus allocations for major programmes include:

Gandhi Ashram visits – 500, 318, 141 buses (different events)

Polio vaccination drive – 352 buses

Prime Minister’s programmes – 422, 336 buses

Home Minister’s programmes – 81, 78, 110, 78 buses

Tiranga Yatra – 794 buses

Garib Kalyan Mela – 29 buses

Rain Basera events – 83, 102 buses

International Yoga Day – 152 buses