KTCL working on revenue generation plan
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 7
The Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) is working on revenue generation plan spread over next five years that would pull the corporation out of red.
KTCL Managing Director Venancio Furtado said that the corporation is already on the job to prepare a comprehensive plan for next five years and it would be submitted to the State government within three months.
“The plan will take shape in next three months. Goa will get to see change in the services of KTCL not just on papers but on roads,” he said.
KTCL coffers are shrinking with the implementation of sixth pay commission to its 3900 workers. With the introduction of pay scale, the corporation has to shell out additional liability of Rs 1.75 crore per month.
As a step to improve the financial status of the corporation, the State Finance Department had directed KTCL to submit a detailed plan for next five years specifying the measures to increase the revenue and decrease the expenditure.
Furtado said that the corporation is making all efforts to prepare a report, which will take KTCL at number one position in near future.
“We are trying to identify the profitable routes and those going under losses. We are also trying to figure out on workers front where we are planning to go for more mechanical techniques, which requires less manpower,” he said adding that the officials are also giving visits to nearby States to see the functioning of government transport.
KTCL also plans to restart its Mumbai-Goa route, which was discontinued since 2008. The popularity of Konkan Railway and increasing presence of private operators had forced the State-run corporation to freeze its operation on this crucial route.
“This was one of the profitable routes for us. The corporation is planning to ply few buses on this route, which will help us in fetching much income,” Furtado said.
The State-run corporation dependent on the government grants over the years had received nearly Rs 32 crore for last three years in form of subsidy, gratuity and funds under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
The data available from the transport ministry figured out that for 2007-08, the corporation received Rs 8 crore as subsidy while in 2008-09 it went upto Rs 9.75 crore.
However, for the year 2009-10, the government paid a grant of Rs 20 crore to the corporation as subsidy, gratuity and funds under JNNURM.
The statistics reveals that KTCL has also received around Rs 3.85 crore from the Central Government under JNNURM in 2009-10.
The data also states that the corporation has already received Rs 4.04 crore from the government for the year 2010-11 for the upgradation of bus stands as sanctioned by the government during the financial year 2009-10.
