In the latest developments, the federal government has decided to issue tender next month for the purchase of Karachi Green Line project buses, sources said Wednesday.

As per details, the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL), a federally-run entity has summoned a meeting on April 9 to discuss matters pertaining to the Karachi Green Line BRT project.

Sources said around 80 buses would be purchased with a cost of Rs10.95 billion. The federal government will also issue an international tender to run the operations of Green Line BRT project.

The successful bidder company will be bound to run operations for three years.

The Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited in its earlier meeting had sought tenders for laying down Phase II of the Green Line BRT, which spans from Taj Medical Complex to Jama Cloth Market.

Last year in December, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail had announced that Prime Minister Imran Khan will inaugurate the Green Line bus project which is completed to provide relief for Karachi citizens suffering transportation problems.

Imran Ismail, while addressing a press conference in Karachi, had said he had monitored the construction process of Green Line bus project over the directives of PM Imran Khan and he will brief him over its details.

He had revealed that the authorities will be ready to formally inaugurate the bus project by February 7 next year. Ismail had said that PM Khan payed special attention to Sindh and it was the only province where people get health insurance cards without seeking any assistance from the provincial government.

It may be noted that the BRT Green Line project with intersections is 24 km long which includes 12.7 km elevated, 10.9 km at grade, and 422 meters underground and has 25 stations.

The construction work on Phase-I was started in 2016.

The phase-II common corridor from Gurumandir up to Municipal Park with a length of 2.5 km has two underpasses at M.A Jinnah Road.

The state-of-art underground bus terminal with parking facility and the commercial mezzanine floor was being also being constructed at Numaish.