BANGKOK, 31 Mar 2015- 13 entrepreneurs participated in the 3rd round of auction for the 489 Natural Gas for Vehicle (NGV) bus procurement deal on March 26th.
According to Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) Acting Director Pranee SukrasornMs, out of the 13 contenders, only 2 were from the previous round. She is confident that this would be the last round and the name of the winner will be announced on April 20th. The deal winner will be responsible for the procurement of the buses and start delivering them between May to July this year. The medium price for each vehicle is set at 3.65 million baht, netting an entire deal for 1.78 billion baht.
The acting BMTA director added that her agency plans to decommission 100 buses after receiving all of the new NGV vehicles. As for another plan involving periodic maintenance of the existing 2,600 buses, the Ministry of Finance would guarantee for the loan the BMTA may make regarding the maintenance.
Ms. Pranee said the procurement for the rest of the BMTA’s fleet would have to come after it can determine the new vehicle’s longevity. She added her agency is considering procuring electric buses, given the rising prices of the natural gas for vehicle. However, the choice may not be viable due to the steep price tag of up to ten million baht apiece.
