Minister for Transport A.K. Saseendran has said that a comprehensive action plan for the revival and modernisation of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be implemented within six months.
At a news conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Saseendran said that the action plan which would be implemented under the recently announced financial package of the State government would focus on the recommendations of the Sushil Khanna committee for reducing expenses and enhancing non-ticket revenue. KSRTC Chairman and Managing Director Biju Prabhakar was also present at the news conference.
New buses
The Minister said that the KSRTC had chalked out plans to lease its land on a long-term basis so as to generate revenue. Also, it would purchase 100 new buses using the ₹50-crore plan grant.
The new buses, including eight sleeper buses, 20 semi-sleeper buses and 72 express buses, are expected to begin services by January 2021.
Mr. Saseendran said that the KSRTC had also plans to purchase 310 CNG buses with funds sourced from the KIIFB. A new subsidiary company KSRTC-SWIFT would be formed for operating buses funded by the KIIFB by January 1.
Besides, the KSRTC will undertake conversion of existing buses from diesel to CNG and LNG in a phased manner. Discussions to procure loans from KIIFB and other agencies for converting all the existing ordinary buses of KSRTC into LNG were in process.
The conversion of buses to CNG and LNG would reduce the operating expenses by ₹25 crore, he said.
Computerisation
Mr. Saseendran said that the computerisation of the KSRTC for ₹16.98 crore would be implemented this fiscal. Also the vehicle tracking system, passenger information system and electronic ticketing facility will be launched on March next.
He said that the KSRTC had also sought legal opinion for granting permanent appointment to empanelled employees who have over 10 years’ experience. Besides, the empanelled employees who have less than 10 years’ experience will be considered for appointment in KSRTC-SWIFT, Mr. Saseendran said.
