Diwali Season Turns Money Spinner for SETC

CHENNAI: This year’s Festival of Lights turned out to be the best Diwali for the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) in the last five years with profits spiking during the festival.

Though the heavy downpour played havoc with passengers’ travel plans, the state-owned transport corporation plying long distance buses made a revenue of `16.25 crore between November 6 and 15. “This is `1.25 crore higher than the revenue from Deepavali last year. In 2014, we earned around `15 crore during the same 10-day period,” an official told City Express.

SETC operated around 1,200 buses, including 200 new fleets inaugurated last month. Out of the 1,200 buses, 500 departed from Chennai. The rains were a blessing in disguise for the Corporation, as students from other cities returned home as colleges remained closed because of rains.

Sources said the number of passengers remained stable despite the incessant rains. “Many people, who generally visit their relatives in Chennai cancelled their trips. But, the occupancy was maintained at 80 per cent,” a source said, explaining that students had compensated for lack of passengers. SETC operates inter-state buses connecting major cities within Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru, Puducherry and Kerala.