In a bid to make its buses free from COVID-19 and eventually be able to ply with 100 per cent capacity, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to apply a coating of anti-microbial chemicals on all touch points of about 10,000 buses. The public transport undertaking says that this would have to be done every few months and would cost Rs 9,000 for each bus. Work orders for the same have been placed.

The MSRTC, which has about 18,000 buses in its fleet, said the anti-microbial coating is a chemical agent that would be applied on surfaces to prevent the growth of disease-causing microbes.