Privatisation of GSRTC ruled out

Transport body to get Rs 137 crore grant

Giving the green signal to Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) to purchase 1100 new buses, the state government has made it clear that it has no intention to privatise the loss making enterprise.

The state government will grant Rs 137 crore to GSRTC for an ambitious project to reverse lift the corporation's flagging fortunes. The entire amount will be used to acquire new buses.

Of the 1100 buses, 1000 buses vehicles will have diesel engines and 100 will have CNG engines. The new buses will be rolled out after two months in phases.

It may be recalled that GSRTC had recently ordered for 100 buses, of which over 60 buses have already hit the roads.

GSRTC has meanwhile completed the bidding process for buying 500 diesel buses each from Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland.

"With the approval from the state government for our long-pending demand for funds for buying new buses, GSRTC can now hope for a turnaround. The state government has also cleared that the corporation will not be handed over in private hands," G R Aloria, vice chairman and managing director, GSRTC, said.

"Following the turnaround in a number of state-owned enterprises in the last couple of years, GSRTC is now high on the state's priority list," added Aloria, who has served as commissioner of transport for the state government.

GSRTC reported revenue of Rs 978.61 crore during the financial year 2004-05 as compared with Rs 1010.15 crore during the fiscal 2003-04. During the year, GSRTC operated for only 9250.71 lakh kilometers, compared with 10,126.13 lakh kilometer in 2003-04. The number of passengers travelling in GSRTC buses went down by nearly 20 per cent last year compared with 2003-04.

Following the latest development, Aloria is hoping for a significant increase in revenue receipts. "We are expecting an increase in revenue of Rs 30 to 50 crore during this year. New CNG buses will reduce our operating costs and attract more passengers. The designing of the new buses in so attractive manner that people will have to read the GSRTC tag to differentiate it from private buses," claimed Aloria.

GSRTC has decided to build 800 buses at in-house workshops and outsource services to private parties for 400 buses.The newly designed buses will not carry the traditional white and orange stripes. It is believed that the decision to go for new look has been taken to change GSRTC's image in the minds of target audience.