Somit Sen

BEST may need at least 3,000 additional drivers to operate its expanding fleet, including 1,500 buses approved under the PM e-Drive scheme and over 2,000 expected from a private contractor.

Tata Power on Wednesday announced it has established a formidable, diversified opportunity pipeline of over 2.8GW across 18 leading blue-chip data centre operators across India.

If you can afford a Rs 1.5 crore Mercedes, a rugged Rs 2 crore Land Rover Defender, or a roaring Porsche, you can certainly afford to pay your fair share of taxes to the city you drive it in. That is the stern, uncompromised message coming out of the Maharashtra state transport department following an intensive crackdown on high-end vehicle owners dodging Mumbai’s steep road taxes by fraudulently registering their luxury acquisitions in the Union Territory of Diu and Daman under the registration code DD.

Close on the heels of Andheri RTO’s crackdown against high-end and luxury imported vehicles registered in Union Territories like Diu and Daman to evade local levies, Tardeo RTO also conducted a special major checking drive on coastal road and Bandra-Worli Sea Link.

Mumbai's Tardeo and Andheri RTOs have intensified checks on luxury vehicles registered outside Maharashtra but used in the state to evade motor vehicle taxes.

A 53-year-old worker died in Andheri’s Majas area near MIDC after a passing BEST bus struck the open door of a parked poultry tempo, causing the door to rebound and hit him on Wednesday. MIDC police arrested the bus driver, Ashok Shinde (49), in a case of causing death due to negligence.

The BEST committee on Thursday gave its nod for the power sale agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for procuring 220 MW of solar power integrated with Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). This will shield the undertaking from expensive power purchased from the market during peak hours and will have a Rs 2.86 per unit cost for solar power for 25 years.

Mumbai BEST committee member Ajay Singh on Thursday alleged serious financial irregularities in the billing system of the 'Chalo App' used by the undertaking, demanding a thorough investigation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police at the panel meeting.

For thousands of daily commuters travelling through Sion, Friday marked the end of a long and often frustrating journey. With the reopening of the overbridge near Rani Laxmibai Chowk after more than a year of repair work, BEST buses have finally resumed their original routes, restoring a key transport link between Sion East and West.

On paper, many luxury sports utility vehicles and high-end sedans navigating Mumbai’s congested traffic do not belong to Maharashtra at all. Instead, their official legal paper trail leads to tiny, quiet tenements situated hundreds of kilometres away in the Union Territory of Diu and Daman, revealed an RTO official involved with the probe.