The Karnataka government is likely to decide on a bus fare hike after a committee headed by IAS officer Atul Tiwari completes its study, Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh said. The government intends to keep any increase to a minimum so that the additional burden on passengers is not too high.
“Over the past eight months, the Central government has increased diesel prices four times, along with oil and petrol prices. We have not increased fares despite this. The State government spends nearly ₹8,000 crore a year on bus maintenance. This is not about making a profit, but about helping citizens,” he said, addressing the media on Friday.
The final decision on the quantum of the fare hike will be taken by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and the Cabinet after the committee submits its recommendations. Suresh said the Transport Department would bear part of the additional cost, while the government would provide support to the transport corporations. Shivakumar has also assured support to BMTC, KSRTC and other transport corporations, he said.
Karnataka’s state-run transport corporations last raised passenger fares in January 2025, when the government approved a 15 per cent increase across KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC. The government had cited rising fuel, salary and other operational costs for the hike.
Before that, fares were increased by 12 per cent in 2020 for KSRTC, NWKRTC and the then North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, while BMTC was excluded from that revision.
Meanwhile, the State government is preparing to strengthen public transport infrastructure. According to a media report by The Hindu, Karnataka has decided to take a ₹2,000-crore loan from the Central government to construct new bus depots and upgrade existing bus stations across the State.
The government has also secured approval to procure 4,500 electric buses for the BMTC under the Centre’s PM E-DRIVE programme.
The State is expected to spend about ₹600 crore annually on the electric-bus project, with the total expenditure estimated at around ₹12,000 crore over 20 years. The buses will be introduced in phases on Bengaluru’s roads.
The procurement will include 3,800 12-metre buses and 900 nine-metre buses, with around 400 buses expected to be air-conditioned. The buses will be manufactured and supplied by vehicle manufacturers in phases, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, the State government will distribute free smart cards to one crore women under the Shakti scheme, which provides free travel to women domiciled in Karnataka on eligible non-air-conditioned state-run buses.
The first phase of the smart-card distribution is expected to cover around one crore women and cost approximately ₹250 crore. Of this, the State government is expected to contribute ₹150 crore, while the remaining amount will be borne by Karnataka’s four transport corporations.
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