Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Tuesday made a passionate appeal to the state government to allow it to increase the price of the ticket given the huge losses suffered due to rising prices for diesel and other expenses.

However, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had advised the Ministry of Transport as well as the RTC authorities to submit relevant proposals to the State Cabinet at its next meeting in order to make an appropriate decision after evaluating all options. .

He also called on the Department of Energy and distribution companies that appealed to the government to raise the electricity tariff, to submit the proposals to the State Cabinet to make a final decision in this regard.

During a high-level meeting on the status of TSRTC in Pragathi Bhavan here, TSRTC authorities informed the Chief Minister that the company faces an additional financial burden of Rs 550 crore due to the increase in diesel price of Rs 22 per liter in the last-and-a-half years. Rising prices for bus spare parts such as tires and tubes as well as diesel, are causing further losses to the company, totaling Rs 600 crore per year.

Although the state government took steps to strengthen the RTC and revive it to its full potential, the Covid-19 pandemic had made matters worse. The RTC had suffered a loss of revenue of around Rs 3,000 crore due to the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

In Hyderabad alone, the company suffers a loss of income of up to Rs 90 crore per month. A total of 97 depots across the state are also operating at a loss.

Led by Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, RTC officials called on the chief minister to increase tariffs given the inevitable circumstances and help the company to continue its services to the people. Moreover, they pointed out that the government announced earlier to the assembly last March that it would increase tariffs for the RTC, but has not implemented the same due to the pandemic.

As the state government was already taking various measures and bearing the financial burden of RTC to ensure quality commuter services as well as the well-being of employees, they said it would be impossible for the company to survive without increasing tariffs and compensate for the losses suffered as a result of the Corona pandemic and the rise in diesel prices.

On the occasion, Minister of Energy G Jagadish Reddy and Telangana State Generation Corporation (TSGenco) and Chairman and CEO of Transmission Corporation (TSTransco) D Prabhakar Rao briefed the Chief Minister on losses suffered by utilities state electricity. They explained that power companies, like all sectors during the Covid pandemic, suffered heavy losses and called for a review of electricity tariffs in order to continue to provide quality services. They recalled that the electricity tariff had not been revised for six years.

However, the Prime Minister asked officials of the TSRTC and the power companies to submit the proposals to the State Cabinet, which will take an appropriate decision at its next meeting.

He said the state government is taking all measures to safeguard and strengthen the TSRTC. He assured that efforts were underway to strengthen the Company and put it back on the road to recovery. He asked officials to bring proposals to the government suggesting other revenue options so that Cabinet can make an appropriate decision at its next meeting.

IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao, Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy, TSRTC Chairman Bajireddy Govardhan, Marriage MPs Janardhan Reddy, Saidi Reddy, Secretary in Chief Somesh Kumar, Chief Special Secretary for Transport Sunil Sharma, Chief Special Secretary for Finance K Ramakrishna Rao, Transco and Genco CMD D Prabhakar Rao, Director General of TSRTC VC Sajjanar, Chief Secretary of CMO S Narsing Rao, Secretary CMO Rajashekhar Reddy and other officials were present.

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