The ambitious project of Travel and Transit Management Centres (TTMCs) of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), revenues from which were supposed to neutralise the ever-increasing cost of input, has instead become a burden on the transport corporation.
Let alone cushioning passenger fares through the commercial revenue from these TTMCs, BMTC is now repaying loans borrowed for the construction of TTMCs out of its own purse. While the projected commercial revenue from all these TTMCs is about Rs. 33 crore a year, BMTC has to pay about Rs. 72 crore a year for five years to repay the Rs. 313 crore loan obtained from a commercial bank.
The reasons are mainly of its own making. According to realtors, the commercial going rate is between Rs. 30 and Rs. 50 per sq ft, but BMTC inexplicably has leased its commercial space in the range of Rs. 15 and Rs. 22 per sq ft. At this rate, strategists opine that it would take at least 15 years to even recover the principal amount.
Profits dwindling
The low returns mean BMTC has to shell out about Rs. 40 crore for the next five years from its regular revenue to service the loan even as the corporation's profits are dwindling (Rs. 54 crore in 2009-10 and Rs. 50 crore in 2010-11).
The corporation had been using its funds to modernise its fleet, provide passenger amenities and meet the ever-increasing overheads. Henceforth, the corporation is likely to be left with a meagre amount for these activities.
While the sanctioned cost of these TTMCs was Rs. 333 crore initially, the cost spiralled to Rs. 480 crore and it is likely to touch Rs. 500 after final accounting. The shares of the Union and the State governments were limited to the sanctioned cost (Rs. 166.5 crore).
As a result, the BMTC had to spend Rs. 146.66 crore in addition to its share of Rs. 116.5 crore to complete the project.
TTMCs have come up at Jayanagar (Rs. 14.8 crore and 9,267 sq m built-up area); Shanthinagar (Rs. 108.5 crore and 38,162 sq m built-up area); Domlur (Rs. 19.35 crore and 5,424 sq m); Koramangala (Rs. 66.2 crore and 19,618 sq m); Yeshwanthpur (Rs. 91.9 crore and 14,940 sq m); ITPL (Whitefield) (Rs. 43.02 crore and 12,215 sq m); Vijayanagar (58.1 crore and 15,581 sq m); Bannerghatta (Rs. 5.5 crore and 8,093 sq m); Kengeri (Rs. 40 crore and 17,759 sq m) and Banashankari (Rs. 33.1 crore and 8,556 sq m).
The projected commercial revenue from these TTMCs per month are as under: Jayanagar Rs. 13,55,926; Shanthinagar Rs. 91,38,427; Domlur Rs. 11,02,628; Koramangala Rs. 62,45,286; Yeshwanthpur Rs. 34,87,793; ITPL Rs. 15,84,362; Vijayanagar Rs. 27,15,404; Bannerghatta Rs. 20,570; Kengeri Rs.8,06,640 and Banashankari Rs.13,22,137.
