Himachal: Loss-making HRTC to privatise 107 routes
Subhash Rajta
Shimla, July 5
As many as 107 routes of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will be privatised shortly. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had directed the HRTC to prune its fleet.
Only 10% profitable
- The HRTC is losing around Rs 23 to Rs 25 every kilometre
- While its average per km income is around Rs 40 to Rs 42, the expenditure is around Rs 65 per km
- Of 3,700 HRTC routes, only 10 per cent are profitable
- It is making profits mainly on long routes, especially through Volvo buses
The HRTC has identified 107 routes on which private operators will be allowed to run their buses. “As many as 87 private operators have applied for these routes. We will allot these routes shortly through a draw of lots,” said Secretary, Transport, RD Nazeem here today. “These routes are not profitable for the HRTC due to its high operational cost but the private operators will make profits,” he added.
The HRTC has a fleet of around 3,300 buses running on around 3,700 routes within and outside the state. “We have sent a proposal of 107 routes to the Transport Department on which the private operators can ply their buses,” said Rohan Chand Thakur, MD, HRTC.
Higher operational cost than the private operators, catering to low-occupancy routes where the private operators do not come in and offering free travel to several categories of commuters keep adding to the losses of the HRTC. “We are trying to cut losses through measures like ensuring higher occupancy, starting new profitable routes and reducing dead mileage, etc. But these measures will make only a limited difference as our staff cost is too high,” said Rohan.
