In a bid to improve the public transport system here, the Centre has sanctioned 50 buses for the city under its Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) Scheme. The Patiala Municipal Corporation (MC) will launch the bus service and has identified 5 acre land near Ghalori Gate for setting up a bus depot. Though the MC had sought Rs 7 crore for setting up the depot, the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee approved Rs 3 crore. It also approved Rs 1.61 crore for the installation of Global Positioning System (GPS) and electronic display machines on these buses. MC Superintendent Engineer (SE) MM Syal, who is also the nodal officer for the project, the buses would cost Rs 14.50 crore. The Centre would pay 80 per cent of the amount, while the state government 20 per cent. The city will get 40 midibuses (32 seater) and 10 minibuses (16 seater). Municipal Commissioner Parminder Singh Gill said once the scheme was fully operational, the administration would be able to reduce traffic on city roads. “We conducted a survey in the city and found that around 60 per cent of the people travelled on two-wheelers, leading to traffic congestion. Only 6 per cent commuted on buses. With the scheme, we hope to encourage people to use public transport,” he said. He said the corporation would outsource the buses to a private firm and would float tenders in this regard by January-end. “We have to submit a detailed project report to the Centre by March-end. Our officials would soon visit Ludhiana and Jalandhar to get information on how the scheme can be successfully executed,” he added.