They were ordered as a direct replacement for the B 737-200s. As the govt wanted IC (the pre merger entity) to keep operating to the airfields serviced by the 732s, they went for the bogie to have a lower ACN. Once the airfields were improved and their PCNs increased, the bogies became dead weights. As per my friends who flew them, there was not much of a performance increase except the higher payload capacity.
Disclaimer: As this is mainly second hand information, please feel free to correct me.
Regards
