VASCO: The Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) will move proposals to switch the current bus fuel with compressed natural gas (CNG) and to run seven air-conditioned buses on shuttle routes.
At a press conference in Vasco on Monday, KTC Chairman Carlos Almeida said he was trying to ensure that the corporation turned its losses into profits within three years. He said, “I have studied all aspects of the corporation and understood that the main issue that is creating hindrance to its growth is the loss faced by us. At present, we are spending around Rs 40 crore on fuel. Thus, we have decided to convert our buses fuel into CNG.”
He continued, “The Goa Industrial Development Corporation is having dialogues with the Gas Authority of India Limited to check the availability of CNG. Once the same is done, we will start purchasing the conversion kit after taking approval from the government. We will change the buses to CNG in phases, which will help the corporation to save money.”
The KTC will also improve the quality of bus services by introducing luxury buses. Seven of them will be air-conditioned, and will be obtained under the Centre’s JNNURM scheme. Almeida said, “In the next three months, these AC buses will run on shuttle service routes. Slowly we will also put similar buses on various other routes in a phased manner. Beside that, we have also decided to introduce four new interstate super luxury buses that will run on the Goa-Belgaum and Goa–Kolhapur routes.”
Almeida also informed that nationalization of road routes was not possible at the moment. He added, “However, the corporation will take over the Margao-Canacona and Margao-Curtorim routes along with buses, drivers and conductors of private players so as to provide them relief once the corporation takes over the routes.”
