SIDCO to take over J&KSRTC operations as ‘Ladakh Transport’ from April 1

Leh: In another development, Sindhu Infrastructure Development Corporation (SIDCO) is going to take over J&K State Road Transport Corporation (J&KSRTC) in style of Ladakh Transport in the UT.

The takeover will happen on April 1, 2023; and all the assets of J&K SRTC are in process of handing over to SIDCO in Ladakh.

Moreover, SIDCO would also be provided a fleet of e-buses for operating on various tourist routes.

As decided by the UT administration and Corporation, SIDCO would as far as possible move to greener technologies for its transport operations.

For this purpose, UT Administration has taken the services of RITES who has submitted a detail Feasibility & Assessment Report on Mass Transit System and allied infrastructure including operation of e-Buses.

The decisions were taken at the 3rd meeting of the Board of Directors of SIDCO chaired by Advisor to LG Ladakh, Umang Narula who is also Chairman of this Corporation.

The meeting discussed various issues pertaining to creation of posts, SIDCO recruitment rules, delegation of administrative and financial powers to the officers on the board, amongst other matters.

For the convenience of passengers and providing them basic services SIDCO would be developing passenger facilitation centers across Ladakh and one each in Himachal and J&K.

In this regard, Advisor Narula was apprised that SIDCO is preparing detailed projects for various identified locations with help of technical experts. Also, matter has been taken up with J&K and HP governments to allot land for such centers.

Discussions were also held on Ladakh’s aim to achieve carbon neutrality and the need for SIDCO to strategize their operations in sync with the aim of shifting to more carbon neutral technologies.

Commissioner Secretary Ajeet Kumar Sahu who is MD of SIDCO Ladakh introduced the agenda items for the meeting, while Executive Director SIDCO Ladakh, Lakshya Singhal informed the meeting of the developments in the establishment of SIDCO through a detailed presentation.