Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said on Tuesday that the Government will soon relaunch a state-wide public transport bus service, which was discontinued in 2005.
The bus service ‘Mukhya Mantri Sugam Parivahan Sewa’, Mr. Yadav said, would be launched in phases across Madhya Pradesh, with the government planning to start the services before Rakshabandhan.
The Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC) was disbanded in 2005 during the BJP chief minister late Babulal Gaur’s government, leaving the State without a public bus service and prompting people to choose private options.
The government had reportedly cited significant financial losses and a lack of resources at the time. The announcement to relaunch services has also come on Gaur’s birth anniversary. Mr. Yadav alleged that the process to shut down the MPSRTC was started during the Congress rule in the State, before 2003.
The services will now be launched by the Madhya Pradesh Passenger Transport and Infrastructure Limited, a State-level company, and the infrastructure is being developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The State has been divided into seven regions — Indore, Ujjain, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Sagar, Gwalior and Rewa with one subsidiary company responsible for each region— and the first phase will be launched from Indore in July first phase will be launched from Indore region, according to officials.
“State transport plays a vital role in the daily lives of the common people. While the State Government is rapidly developing better and modern road infrastructure across Madhya Pradesh, it is also preparing to provide citizens with the special facility of a state-run transport service in the near future,” Mr. Yadav said, adding that the government is hoping that women are able to travel in public buses for the Rakshabandhan festival.
“Due to the state’s geographical conditions, distances between cities are significant. The ‘Chief Minister Sugam Parivahan Sewa’ will address these challenges and make travel more convenient for the public,” he said, exerting confidence that the government will develop it into an effective transport service and enhance connectivity across the State’s interior regions and with neighbouring states.
Earlier on Monday, the Chief Minister chaired a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Madhya Pradesh Passenger Transport and Infrastructure Limited and held discussions with senior officials on rolling out the bus services.
At the meeting, Transport Secretary and the company’s Managing Director (MD) Manish Singh said that work is underway to start the operations of Chief Minister Sugam Transport Service in Indore in three categories — intracity bus services, intercity bus services connecting Indore with other districts, and inter-state bus services connecting the Indore Division with neighbouring states, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from this, Mr. Singh said that operations of 150 electric buses under the PM e-Bus Sewa are also expected to begin in Indore city from July.
Mr. Singh also said that a total of 620 intercity routes have been identified across the State, connecting the seven regional headquarters with district headquarters, and that a total of 2,432 buses will operate on them.
“A total of 121 [intercity] routes have been identified in the Indore region to connect various districts of Madhya Pradesh, with 608 buses proposed for operation on these routes,” he said, as per a government statement.
He added that 28 city and suburban routes have been identified within Indore city to operate 784 buses, apart from the PM e-bus service. The operations of the Indore region will be run by the Atal Indore City Transport Services Limited (AICTSL), one of the subsidiary companies under the Madhya Pradesh Passenger Transport and Infrastructure Limited.
The AICTSL will also operate 276 buses on the 101 inter-state routes.
“The Board was informed that similar arrangements would be implemented in the remaining six regional headquarters through their respective subsidiary companies. Across all seven regions, 1,164 routes [intracity, intercity, and inter-state] have been identified, on which 5,206 buses will operate,” the statement said.
The Chief Minister also acknowledged that the public, especially in rural and tribal regions, has had to use private services including commercial vehicles.
The State has witnessed several people dying in accidents involving people traveling in pick-up vans and overloaded tempos in the past two years.
The Chief Minister had announced that a state-run bus service would be started in Madhya Pradesh just days after his government was formed in December, 2023.
Published – June 03, 2026 05:20 am IST
