The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), a behemoth that is constantly struggling with operational and non-operational losses including spiralling fuel costs, has set in motion several initiatives to optimise efficiency and cut costs.
During an interaction with presspersons here on Wednesday, its VC and MD J. Purnachandra Rao said that before June 2, the appointed day, the AP and Telangana governments released an interim relief of Rs. 385 crore each, exemption of Value Added Tax on diesel (Rs. 115 crore each) and reimbursement of concessional bus passes (Rs. 250 crore each) respectively.
Steps to prune uneconomic and un-remunerative services with occupancy ratio of less than 65 per cent in the express, deluxe and super luxury segments has led to sparing of 63 buses, 164 drivers and 126 conductors in Andhra Pradesh and 42 buses, 110 drivers and 80 conductors in Telangana. Fiscally, this would mean savings of Rs. 6.96 crore for AP and Rs. 4.56 crore for Telangana annually, he explained.
To optimise scheduling of buses, the APSRTC was working to have a pilot project with solutions from Goal Systems of Spain and Lumiplan of France in Hyderabad and Vijayawada. Depending upon the results, the companies will offer scheduling solutions to cover all services across AP and Telangana. The Corporation was looking at energy solutions too and trying to use bio-diesel to the tune of 10 per cent of their fuel consumption. Plans were also being drafted to harness solar power in depots. It was proposed to have an installed capacity of 1,000 KWP over a period of 20 years and an expected savings of Rs. 17.61 crore in AP, while for Telangana, they planned a capacity of 500 KWP that would result in savings of Rs. 8.58 crore, he said.
The APSRTC was also in talks with Hyderabad-based HBL Power Systems to install ‘HBL Rentar Fuel Catalyst’ on its buses on trial basis of 10 units each in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
‘Bifurcation will be over in a month’
The process of bifurcation in the APSRTC is likely to be completed in a month, according to Mr. Purnachandra Rao. Responding to a question at a press conference, he outlined the way forward, saying that the next step now was for Executive Directors to sit together and draft a report, finalise it and send it to the Shile Bhide Committee.
