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Mumbai Congress Unveils 9-Point Plan to Revive BEST Ahead of BMC Elections

The manifesto casts the bus utility as a non-profit civic service to be publicly funded, ending wet-lease control within three years.

Overview

  • Released under “Mission BEST Bachao,” the plan promises to stop new private and wet-lease contracts and return operations, maintenance and staffing fully to BEST control on a three-year timeline.
  • Congress proposes funding all operations through the BMC budget supplemented by parking fees and municipal charges, with any fare hike contingent on a public hearing and an independent committee’s recommendation.
  • The party pledges to honor a 2019 deal to restart 3,337 buses, recruit permanent drivers, conductors and mechanics, and expand the fleet above 6,000 by purchasing 3,000 buses between 2026 and 2028.
  • Route commitments include restoring long-distance and cross-city services curtailed after 2017 and adding new east–west and cross-harbour links based on passenger surveys.
  • The manifesto demands a CAG-approved audit, opposes commercial use of depot land, and outlines safety, transparency and labor measures such as daily inspections, fire-safety checks, data disclosure and ending driver-only operations.