BENGALURU: Thanks to the surge in diesel prices particularly in the last six months, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) now loses an additional Rs 10 lakh per day on the operations front. With the price of High Speed Diesel (HSD) at Rs 62.90 per litre from May 1, the loss per day is expected to go up.
The 6,149 buses of the BMTC stable that run around the city every day, clock 12 lakh km daily. The Corporation’s daily losses stand at Rs 74 lakh per day. BMTC is charged for its fuel under the category of bulk consumers and its fuel price is revised every fortnight only, unlike daily fluctuating prices for general consumers. According to a top BMTC official, the losses have been unprecedented the last six months due to the fuel prices going through the roof. “Though BMTC has been in the red f, the continuous increase in HSD prices in the last six months has created staggering losses for us. The cost per litre has increased by Rs 5.65 per litre from November 2017 to April 2018,” he said.
The monthly loss due to the fuel prices alone work out to Rs 3.5 crore. “On an average, we easily lose Rs 10 lakh a day due to this aspect,” the official added. The future looks bleak too on the revenue front.“From May 1, diesel price per litre is nearing Rs 63 and this will cause an additional Rs 2.45 crore loss for us by the end of this month,” the official added. From nearly 50 lakh passengers per day, BMTC’s ridership now hovers around 46 lakh per day. “After the launch of the full Phase-I, Metro has taken most of the passengers we lost. In addition, cab aggregators too have eaten into our ridership,” he said.Another official said that the net impact of the wage revision works out to 14% of the salary for all its employees.
Burning a hole
High speed diesel prices BMTC paid for last 6 months
November 2017: Rs 54.68/litre
December 2017: Rs 56.28/litre
January 2018: Rs 57.79/litre
February 2018: Rs 59.44/litre
March 2018: Rs 57.93/litre
April: Rs 60.33/litre
From May 1: Rs 62.90/litre