Peshawar BRT faces uncertain future as KP govt cuts subsidy

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced plans to discontinue the annual subsidy of billions of rupees to the Peshawar Metro Bus (BRT) project — a multi-billion-rupee initiative launched by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government — starting from the fiscal year 2025-26.

This decision comes after the project has consistently drained the provincial treasury, leaving the project’s future uncertain.

According to official documents, during the current fiscal year 2023-24, the operational expenses of the Peshawar BRT project have reached Rs8.72 billion, while the project’s revenue remained only at Rs2.24 billion.

Consequently, the annual subsidy for the said project has risen to Rs6.47 billion. The documents reveal that the provincial government has contributed Rs1 billion to the project, and interestingly, Rs4 billion have also been released for the BRT project’s subsidy this year from the loans obtained for development works from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the French Development Agency (AFD). Additionally, the project faces a shortfall of Rs1.50 billion in subsidy this year.

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Taking note of the continuous increase in the subsidy for the Peshawar BRT project, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to discontinue the said subsidy from the fiscal year 2025-26.

KP Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam has sent a letter to the additional chief secretary planning & development and the chairman of the board of directors of Trans Peshawar Company, mentioning that the provincial government has set the subsidy for the BRT project at Rs3 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25, while it will be reduced to zero for the following year, 2025-26.

The provincial finance adviser has made it clear in his letter that the provincial government will not consider any requests regarding this matter (subsidy) in its future financial plans.

On the other hand, a meeting regarding the BRT was held on Saturday at the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar. Chaired by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, the meeting was attended by Provincial Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam, the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary, the finance secretary, the transport secretary, the director-general of the Peshawar Development Authority, the MD of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Urban Mobility Authority, and the chief executive officer of Trans Peshawar Company. The meeting reviewed the BRT project and considered proposals regarding the operation of the project.

The KP chief minister issued instructions to complete the unfinished work of the project at the earliest.