Union minister Nitin Gadkari used Friday's Bhopal launch to warn bus manufacturers and RTO officials that shoddy standards and quiet permit deals will no longer be tolerated.
Madhya Pradesh got its state bus service back on Friday, 21 years after it was last run, with Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav flagging off the Mukhyamantri Sugam Parivahan Bus service and the PM E-Bus Sewa together in Bhopal.
351 buses hit the road on day one. Indore gets the biggest share, 145 buses split between 50 intercity and 95 intracity routes. Bhopal follows with 106, Jabalpur with 67. Rewa gets 18 intercity buses, Dewas 10, Katni three, Bhind two.
The state isn't stopping there. Officials have set a target of 15,000 buses under the MSPS programme by 2031, starting with 1,500 in year one and adding roughly 2,500 to 3,000 every year after that.
Gadkari didn't treat the launch as a photo op. He went after bus manufacturers directly, saying "Buses are not being built to the required standard. Tell the companies to shape up. Otherwise, just as I come down hard on contractors, I will come down hard on you." That warning came weeks after a string of bus-burning incidents in the state, which the minister referenced before turning on operators and regulators alike.
He singled out Prasanna Patwardhan, president of the All India Bus and Car Confederation, telling him, "There is still a great need for improvement in buses. Mr Patwardhan, your buses still do not meet the required standards. Tell the manufacturers to improve."
RTO officials weren't spared either. Gadkari accused some of taking money to wave through bus permits regardless of condition, calling them out as "Gandhiwadi" in a pointed jab, and said the September 2025 security code would now actually be enforced, with penalties for anyone who skipped it.
Yadav framed the launch as part of a wider push on road infrastructure, pointing to over 5 lakh kilometres of roads built in the state and a stated goal of extending bus connectivity down to smaller towns and villages. He also credited Gadkari with sweetening the visit, saying the Centre had agreed to waive toll charges on a stretch flagged by the state's PWD minister until a pending overbridge is finished, and that the Union minister reviewed ongoing national highway projects in Madhya Pradesh during the trip.
What happens next is the real test. A scheme is only as good as its rollout, and 351 buses across four cities is a modest start against a 15,000-bus target. Whether manufacturers actually tighten build quality, and whether RTOs stop looking the other way on permits, will show up the next time a bus catches fire or fails inspection. Gadkari's made the warning public. Now it's on record.
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