BRTC set to get 500 new trucks
Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is all set to add 500 new trucks to its fleet at a cost of Tk 73.58 crore.
With this purchase, the number of trucks in BTRC's fleet would reach 660.
The BRTC will collect 150 trucks, each of 10.2 tonnes in gross vehicle weight (GVW), from Tata Motors Limited at a cost of Tk 23.61 crore ($2.82 million).
This means each of the 150 trucks will cost Tk 14.02 lakh, excluding customs duty, VAT and commission of letter of credit (LC).
The remaining 350 trucks, each of 16.2 tonnes in GVW, will be collected from VE Commercial Vehicles Limited of India. Here each truck will be costing Tk 13.02 lakh, excluding customs duty, VAT and LC expenses.
“We signed agreements with Tata Motors and VE Commercial Vehicles on August 16 in Dhaka to purchase these vehicles under the second Indian line of credit (LoC-II),” said Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan, chairman of BRTC.
He hoped that the first consignment of 20 trucks would enter Bangladesh within November and the rest by February next year in phases. Bhuiyan said these trucks would be used by different government organisations and autonomous bodies for movement of goods at a fixed rate.
He said the government was spending $6.78 million for the trucks from $27.94 million reserved for a project under the $2 billion Indian LoC-II. This means there was more than $21 million still unspent under the project.
The BRTC chairman said they would get spare parts alongside servicing support as per rules of the companies.
“We hope to get at least 10 years' economic life out of these trucks and it may be depending on proper maintenance of the vehicles by the BRTC,” he said.
