Maharashtra: Loss-Making MSRTC Becomes Profit-Earning

The loss-making government transportation businesses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) now have become profit-making businesses. Speaking with media officials, Industry Minister Uday Samant took a swipe at former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. He said that miracles can happen if the minister in charge works on the ground level instead of working from the office at home.

MSRTC and MSRDC departments are both headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Samat said, “Only six states have profitable state-run public transport (ST) services. The government of Maharashtra seeks financial assistance to the corporation as and when needed. However, the ST corporation had been losing money for the previous two to four years. It lacked the resources to pay the employees' salaries. The corporation has been effectively rescued from such a terrible state by the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar administration.”

Samat alleged that during the Uddhav Thackeray-led government, the losses in these departments were quite high. Samat said, “The ST corporation suffered a loss of INR 6,300 crore between March 2020 and March 2021 as a result of a complete halt of traffic during the COVID lockdown period. The previous administration chose to pay INR 300 crore in salary each month while Ajit Pawar served as finance minister. However, once Shinde was elected as the new chief minister, a decision was made to offer elderly people (75 years and above) free transit, and INR 100 crore was given to the ST as compensation. Another INR 180 crore was paid for providing female travelers with a 50% discount. The entire compensation is between INR 300 - 350 crore.”

Samat said that 18 of the state's ST service's 31 divisions have reported earnings so far this year. The top spot is held by the Beed district, with Parbhani and Jalgaon coming in second and third, respectively. The government's subsidy pay for ST personnel has gradually decreased to zero in the meantime. This indicates that ST has begun funding its expenses on its own.

When Shinde took charge, the MSRDC had a loss of INR 6,000-7,000 crore. With a surplus of INR 10-12 thousand crore rupees, it is currently a profitable endeavor.

On the other hand, the Opposition is demanding that the ST bus should be exempted from paying toll charges. Maharashtra ST Karmachari Congress general secretary Shrirang Barge recently demanded that the state transport buses should be exempted from paying tolls. The toll charges were hefty after the hikes from October 1.

He stated that commuters will bear the burden of the toll increase and that the government needs to view MSRTC as a public utility, waiving tolls at all checkpoints. According to him, the MSRTC pays over INR 167 crore in tolls each year at several checkpoints throughout Maharashtra. The state transport corporation has 14,500 buses and transports over 52 lakh passengers on 70,000 journeys every day. The bus corporation has accrued losses of almost INR 9,000 crore. He went on to say that while the political parties had brought up the subject of private vehicle tolls, they also ought to look into waiving the costs for public buses. Additionally, the school bus owners' organization has requested that the 3,500 students who ride buses every day across the city's toll booths be exempt from paying the toll.