Municipal Commissioner IP Gautam also turned down the committee's suggestion of converting the due into a grant for the ailing transport body, citing that this was not possible due to "technical reasons".

During the AMC general board discussion on the annual budget of the AMTS at Tagore Hall here on Saturday, Gautam said that as per the requirements of the Jawharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, the AMC was required to prepare balance sheet of its accounts and show assets. "The loan is our asset and it has to be reflected in the balance sheet and therefore, it will continue to be a loan," he told a bemused house. The chairman of the transport committee, Asit Vora, objected to it and pointed out that while the AMC was giving grants to BRTS, it was treating money granted to AMTS as loan. While he said that his committee would continue raising the issue of waiving off the dues, he admitted that the AMTS had failed to keep certain promises made in the past budget like purchase of a fleet of 100 CNG buses.

"We are learning from our past experiences and will chalk out new plans post the implementation of BRTS, which will force us to revise our bus routes," Vora said.

He further said that the AMTS was keen on withdrawing mini buses due to their frequent breakdown and would instead get a new fleet of big buses.

Meanwhile, Opposition leader Himmatsinh Patel suggested merger of AMTS and BRTS. On the issue of budget allocation of Vadilal Sarabhai General Hospital, Patel stressed on the need for improving its services and making the treatment affordable for the common people in the wake of rising cost of treatment at private hospitals.