Kadamba Transport Corporation saving Rs 1.95 lakh per day; State saves Rs 60.60 lakh per month
TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: In a bid to save almost Rs 11 per litre of diesel, the state government has allowed Government departments and Kadamba Transport Corporation to buy diesel at private retail outlets, after the Centre decided to allow oil corporations to sell diesel to bulk consumers at (unsubsidized) market rate.
The Goa government’s decision has saved an average of Rs 60.60 lakh per month for the state treasury. This will decrease progressively as the retail rate inches towards the unsubsidized rate.
By far the biggest bulk consumer of diesel is the Kadamba Transport Corporation which consumes a whopping 18,000 litres of diesel a day to feed its 400-odd functional fleet.
Speaking to Herald, Carlos Almeida Chairman of KTC said that the corporation itself is saving Rs 1.95 lakh per day by buying diesel from retail pumps.
“If we buy diesel in bulk we will be spending Rs 11 per litre more than the retail rate. We would have to shell out an additional Rs 1.95 lakh per day on diesel which works out to Rs 7.48 crore per year, which is why the government has given instructions that all the buses should fill fuel at the private pump closest to the depot,” Carlos Almeida told Herald.
The KTC used to buy diesel in bulk from various companies hitherto and used to fill their buses at pumps located within the depots.
Another huge consumer of diesel are government vehicles which refuel at pumps maintained by the PWD. According to PWD officials, North Goa administration offices consume 48,000 litres a month while the South Goa administration consumes around 18,000 litres per month on average.
“By switching over to purchase from private pumps, the savings per month works out to Rs 2 lakh.
Earlier the amount paid for bulk procurement for a month was Rs 8.81 lakh for one and a half tanker. Under the revised rates the cost for one and a half tanker a month works out to Rs 10 lakh,” an official of the PWD said.
Diesel is supplied to various departments which includes electricity, WRD, PWD, agriculture, education and health, RTO and Fire brigade.
The local retail rate of diesel is Rs 50.5 while bulk rate is Rs 61plus.
According to reports, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily recently said that the Centre is seized of the fact that some state governments have given directives to their transport undertakings (STU) to use retail outlets for refuelling after subsidy to bulk consumers of diesel was removed as part of the reduction of subsidy package.
Moily had named states such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu which have having asked transporters to refuel diesel at retail pumps instead of buying it directly from the oil marketing companies to avoid paying the market price. The current practice was to buy the diesel from the companies.
“We need to look into the issue… When rules are laid down, there are people who find ways of circumventing them. Instead of buses being asked to refuel at petrol pumps, the States should reduce high local sales tax or VAT on diesel to cut prices,” he is quoted to have said.
Another report says that since the oil companies increased the price of diesel Andhra Pradesh SRTC buses are going to fuel outlets across the State to purchase diesel at retail prices.
There are 3,500-odd city buses in RTC Greater Hyderabad zone and everyday two lakh litres of diesel is required to operate these buses. The diesel price hike could increase the corporation’s fuel expenditure from Rs. 2,500 crore per annum to Rs. 3,250 crore, officials were quoted as saying.
