Losses going up, HRTC may review concessional travel
Pratibha Chauhan
Shimla, July 16
With Himachal facing a grim financial situation, the state government could look for other areas where subsidies being enjoyed by income tax payers could be withdrawn or reduced just like the slashing of the power subsidy being enjoyed by the well-off sections of society.
24 categories enjoying benefit
- The HRTC, which is providing concessional travel to more than 24 categories, is spending almost Rs 400 crore annually on subsidy.
- With the Lok Sabha elections and the nine Vidhan Sabha bypolls over, it is being expected that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu could take some harsh decisions. The HRTC is plying 3,700 routes out of which a mere 10 per cent are profitable
Even though there is no such indication from the government, the possibility of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu taking some more bold steps cannot be ruled out. Just like the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity (HPSEB), the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) too is in the red facing huge losses of over Rs 1966 crore.
The HRTC, which is providing concessional travel to more than 24 categories, is spending almost Rs 400 crore annually on subsidies. Those entitled to subsidised travel include women, students of government schools and colleges, police personnel, persons with disability and freedom fighters, besides other sections.
The government is annually providing a grant-in-aid of almost Rs 200 crore to the HRTC to be able to provide free and subsidised concessional travel to various categories. It was in July 2022 that the previous BJP regime announced 50 per cent concessional travel to all women, irrespective of income criteria.
With the Lok Sabha elections and the nine Vidhan Sabha bypolls being over, it is being expected that the government could take some harsh decisions like cutting down subsidies in many other sectors for income tax payers. Politically, such moves could be damaging but sensing the grim financial health of the state, such steps might be inevitable.
However, with the total debt burden of the state crossing Rs 85,000 crore, the government could be compelled to take decisions which will help wasteful expenditure. The government has also constituted a Cabinet sub-committee on resource mobilisation which will suggest measures to generate additional income.
The HRTC, which has a fleet of 3,180 buses, is suffering mounting losses with little hope of any improvement in its financial health. Apart from 12,000 employees, the HRTC has over 7,000 pensioners and high operational cost as compared to private operators, low occupancy on many routes and free travel to several categories is causing a major drain on the public sector undertaking.
The HRTC is plying 3,700 routes out of which a mere 10 per cent are profitable as it has to shoulder the responsibility of providing transport facility to the people living even in the remotest corner of the state. “The average per km income of HRTC buses is about Rs 40 to Rs 42 while the expenditure works out to be more than Rs 65,” revealed Rohan Thakur, Managing Director, HRTC.
