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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first electric bus service being operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has made a profit of Rs 14,115 in two days after running for 611km in the city.

In the report by KSRTC managing director Tomin J Thachankary to the government, accessed by TOI, it has been said that the electric bus being operated on an experimental basis for 15 days has made this profit of Rs 7,000 per day while the regular KSRTC services are incurring a loss of Rs 7,422 per day.

The electric bus service that is operating in the capital city, has collected Rs 38,406 in two days, of which Rs 3,810 is the expense for electricity (at the rate of Rs 6 per unit), Rs 2,841as tax plus permit, and Rs 17,640 as salary for the bus staff. “Of the 5,670 buses with the KSRTC, electric bus is the most profitable service. Moreover, there is an overwhelming response from the public,” the report said.

He further said that the government should increase the number of bus routes for KSRTC, which at present is only operating in 20% of the total number of routes. At the same time, 90% of the public transport in the other states is dominated by the government-operated services. The report said that of the 93 depots of the corporation, 54, including the chief office in the capital, have been mortgaged against which Rs 3,100 crore loan has been availed. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) has asked the corporation to mortgage another seven depots.

He said that under the present financial condition of the corporation, purchasing new buses even by availing loans with cheap interest rates would be suicidal, and instead, the corporation should go for wet lease method, which is at present used for bus operation in the Thiruvananthapuram-Bengaluru sector. “Under this, while vehicle, tax, driver, maintenance and cleaning would be provided by the company, the corporation will invest in conductor and fuel. Through this, the corporation will be able to maintain the buses in good condition while operating them with more punctuality,” the report said.

The association of state road transport undertakings (ASRTU), which is the apex body of the state road transport corporations, is offering the electric passenger bus for the trial run in the capital city. Almost all the major transport corporations, including BMTC in Mumbai, DTC in Delhi, BMTC in Bengaluru, TSRTC in Telangana , APSRTC in Andhra, have either launched or are in the final stages of launching electric buses for operations.

