07 August,2021 07:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
Over 1,000 MSRTC buses and drivers were brought in during the lockdown in 2020 to help out BEST in Mumbai. File pic
Getting buses on wet lease, converting a few into Liquified Natural Gas fuel (LNG) following the Kerala-model, a few into Compressed Natural Gas and turning some old buses into lorries to save costs and bring in revenue - this is how the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, which has one of the biggest bus fleets in the country with 18,000 buses, is coping with lockdown losses.
As the lockdown led to almost bankruptcy, the MSRTC bosses, led by Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab, who is the chairman of the corporation, last year decided to cut costs and listed several measures to make its operations across the state viable. They included route rationalisation, commercial exploitation of its land and increasing its freight movement by converting old buses into lorries, and following the Kerala model by abandoning diesel and converting a few of its buses into LNG-run vehicles.
Though it was decided last year, the process took time and the actual work order of converting buses into LNG was placed on Tuesday. The cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) also managed to run its first LNG bus in June 2021 to cut back on mounting operational losses by switching to cheaper fuel, and at the same time promote an e-friendly energy source.
Officials said diesel buses would be fitted with LNG kits. The kits would be taken care of by the companies installing them, who will be paid on a per km basis. "Once fitted with an LNG kit, a bus can cover about 600 km. Around a 1,000 buses will also be converted into CNG fuel. MSRTC ridership has come down from 65 lakh to 20 lakh in the pandemic," said an official.
