Punjab bus sourcing backlash

Punjab’s government is facing questions after the Punjab Road Transport Corporation put 250 new buses on the road even though their bodies were fabricated in Rajasthan. (hindustantimes.com) Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann flagged off the 250 buses in Patiala, and Hindustan Times reported on April 12, 2026 that opposition parties then accused his government of reversing its earlier stand on out-of-state fabrication. (hindustantimes.com) The immediate criticism came from Congress leader Sukhpal Khaira and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who said Mann had earlier attacked the previous Congress government over bus bodies being built in Rajasthan. BJP state president Sunil Jakhar had raised a similar charge on March 13, saying buses were being sent to Palsana in Rajasthan for body fabrication and painting. (hindustantimes.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The government’s answer is that Punjab does not currently have a bus body builder certified under the required central norms. PRTC officials told Hindustan Times that buses must meet standards including AIS-052 and AIS-153, and accredited manufacturers in Rajasthan were used because no Punjab fabricator met that certification test. (hindustantimes.com) Those standards sit at the center of the procurement debate. The Tribune reported in December 2025 that Punjab was considering buying 650 fully built buses directly from manufacturers instead of buying chassis and then getting bodies fabricated separately, partly because AIS-153 sets construction and safety requirements for fully built buses. (tribuneindia.com) That shift did not come out of nowhere. The Tribune reported in August 2025 that Punjab’s vigilance probe, opened in 2023, was examining the previous Congress government’s procurement of 841 buses and the fabrication of their bodies in Rajasthan at about ₹11.98 lakh per body. (tribuneindia.com) The 250 buses now under fire were added under the Kilometre Scheme, a model in which private operators supply and maintain the vehicles. PRTC managing director Bikramjit Singh Shergill told Hindustan Times that, under that arrangement, fabrication is handled by the contractor as long as government norms are met. (hindustantimes.com) Transport minister Harpal Singh Cheema said on April 13 that the state plans to add 659 buses to the Punjab Road Transport Corporation fleet and 606 to the Punjab Roadways fleet, with the 250 recent additions counting toward the Punjab Road Transport Corporation total. He also said the department is separately tendering 309 standard buses and 100 midi buses for Punjab Road Transport Corporation. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Officials say the new buses carry panic buttons, vehicle tracking systems and closed-circuit television cameras. The political dispute now is less about whether Punjab needs more buses than about who builds them, where the value is added, and whether the state can defend a procurement method it once used as an attack line. (hindustantimes.com)