The RTC not only has to deal with sharing of infrastructure and manpower, but has also piled up huge losses
Cumulative losses of over Rs. 4,000 crore accrued over the years and a burden of Rs. 2,000 crore loans borrowed from different financial institutions. The APSRTC would not only have to ponder carefully about how to share infrastructure, manpower and fleet, but also piled up losses in the event of Telangana State formation.
The government would have tough time in sorting out the issues as for instance, revenue performance wise – the buses in Telangana fare better than their counterparts in Seemandhra.
The average revenue generated per bus and earnings per kilometre is higher in Telangana region than in Seemandhra region.
This is generally because more private buses are operated towards and in Seemandhra and accessibility of trains in Seemandhra is also higher, when compared to Telangana. When it comes to sharing losses, Telangana should get a lesser share than that of Seemandhra region, observes a senior RTC official.
In all, there are about 22,500 buses in APSRTC. Of these, nearly 10,000 buses are in Telangana and the rest are in Seemandhra. Among the total buses, authorities claim there could be around 4,000 old and rickety buses that have to be scrapped and both the regions have equal share of these old buses.
Likewise, there are 213 bus depots spread across the State. While 90 depots, including 26 in the capital are dotting the Telangana region, 123 depots are functioning in the four zones of Vijayawada, Vizianagaram, Nellore and Kadapa in Seemandhra.
Incidentally, the corporation’s only bus body unit is in Miyapur (Hyderabad), training academy is at Hakimpet (Hyderabad), RTC super speciality hospital is at Tarnaka, printing press is at Miyapur (Hyderabad) and RTC Kala Bhavan is at Baghlingampally.
Most of the assets and infrastructure lie in Telangana while there are hardly any such facilities in Seemandhra, points out a member of RTC National Mazdoor Union. “However, the worst thing is that most of the RTC’s assets including the bus stations have been pledged to raise loans from different financial institutions,” he rues.
