India, Aug. 6 -- Within a year of increasing the lease tenure for private developers constructing Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus stands, the state cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to further increase this tenure from 60 years to 98 years. The first agreement will be for 49 years and extended for another 49. Some ministers raised questions but the move was eventually approved by the cabinet.

MSRTC, which has 598 bus stands and 251 bus depots across the state, has been providing affordable bus services for the last seven decades. Around 20 years ago, the state government came up with a policy to develop bus stands under the public private partnership (PPP) model. At that point, the lease period for private d...