BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Tuesday decided to provide capital support to Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) for purchase of new buses.
The decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the Secretariat here.
It was decided that the Corporation will procure around 70 AC and non-AC buses in the first phase with an investment of `33 crore. The Corporation will provide `13 crore from its internal accruals while the remaining `20 crore will be capital support from the State Government.
The Chief Secretary said the new buses should be of better quality from the perspectives of security and comfort of passengers. He also advised the Corporation to adopt more professional methods of management and operation to scale up profit.
Managing Director of OSRTC Sudhansu Sarangi said the Corporation has computerised all its accounts. E-ticketing machines have been installed and manual ticketing has been abolished. Mobile ticketing system has also been introduced.
As of now, 60 per cent of the tickets are being booked through online system in advance. This has curtailed pilferage. Besides, a new system of entry fees through smart card and boom barrier has been made functional.
Stating that the Corporation has decided to adopt one bus-one staff policy, Sarangi said the system of central store has been substituted by virtual store through IDCOL software.
The Corporation has successfully downsized the bus-to-staff ratio to the lowest level in comparison to Road Transport Corporations of other States in India. The staff ratio has been reduced to three per bus in 2015-16 from nine-plus in 1993-94, he said.
The operating cost per km has also been reduced to `26.41 against all India average of `34.30. The Corporation has been earning net surplus over the last 13 years and is on the path of revival.
The Corporation with a fleet strength of 459 buses has targeted to start premium bus service from October 25.