Development of sustainable public–private partnership model for bus rapid transit system in Western India: a case study approach

Sustainable transport is the need for an emerging economic nation like India. This paper aims at carrying out a socioeconomic feasibility study for development of a sustainable public–private partnership (PPP) model for a megacity like Ahmedabad in India. The proposed model would operate on solar and electric modes. The charging of the batteries can be done with the solar panels installed at some designated bus stops. The primary sustainability components considered for the proposed PPP model include environmental, social, economic, system effectiveness and stakeholders perception. The total proposed network has a corridor of 486.7 km. The proposed model would need a soft loan of INR 55,000 million (USD 733.33 million) at 3% interest to be paid in five ten-yearly installments of INR 49,670 million (USD 662.26 million), investment of INR 75,000 million (USD 1000 million) at 8% interest in form of tax-free green bonds that can be liquidated every 5 years and annual profit of INR 2000 million (USD 26.67 million) to the private operators. Such a model is expected to generate an internal rate of return of 15.25%.