The recent excise reduction on bus chassis could not have come at a more opportune time for the AMTS. Especially when AMTS has decided to introduce 200 new CNG buses by replacing an equal number of CNG mini buses that ply on city roads. The average cost of a bus works out to be Rs 18-19 lakh while its chassis alone costs around Rs 14.2 lakh. A four per cent drop in excise would mean the costs working out to be a drop of Rs 72,000-76,000 per bus. This would mean an excise reduction of Rs 1.52 crore for the 200 new buses. "The announcement came at the most appropriate time as AMTS was planning to replace 200 odd CNG mini buses. Almost 68 mini buses have already been asked to stop plying. The excise reduction would benefit the operators as they have to meet the capital costs. The total benefit works out to be Rs 1.52 crore for 200 buses,' says a senior AMC official.