The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is sitting on assets that can completely wipe out its debts. But for that to happen, the KSRTC will have to hive off almost its entire land bank that runs into 420 acres, valued at over Rs 3000 crore at the present market rate.
The KSRTC has properties at prime locations across the state – 92 depots and five workshops. The book value of these properties were kept at Rs 18 crore when the erstwhile Transport department was made a corporation in 1965. Even when sitting on bounty, the Corporation never bothered to value its properties, something that hindered the Corporation at the borrowing table. In fact, 72 depots did not even have title deeds and no mutations were made.
The current management has no other option but to go for clearing its title deeds and revalue the assets, including the prime property of 14 acres near the Kochi depot.
“We have entrusted a Deputy Collector specifically for this purpose,” said the managing director of KSRTC Antony Chacko. The process required settling 2600 court cases including 242 contempts. According to Chacko, the number of cases were reduced to 88 with zero contempts in the last one and half years.
In a bid to salvage the sinking KSRTC, the Corporation decided to transfer its loans worth Rs 1300 taken from Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) to a consortium of banks led by SBI. Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is likely to ink the deal this week.
The decision will help KSRTC to save Rs 32.5 crore in annual interest payment. Besides, by extending the loan period to 12 years, the KSRTC can save Rs 432 crore. The deal was made possible through the proper valuation of assets.
Properties of 40 depots were kept as collateral mortgage for securing the deal, said a source requesting anonymity. KSRTC had a total loss of around Rs 3000 crore and annual loss is pegged at Rs 621.28 crore. It expects to make Rs 2612 crore in 2015-16.
News : The New Indian Express