Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Nagpur, earned a profit of Rs 9.27 crore by starting goods carriage services from June 2020 to July 2021 that provided a good financial support to the corporation during lockdown period.
The ST traffic was closed for passengers owing to coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown last year hence the higher authorities decided to convert some ST buses into goods carriers to transport materials from one place to another. MSRTC, Nagpur, made a modest beginning by introducing five goods carriers and now it is running 26 closed buses for the purpose. The carriers begin work from Nagpur, Katol, Saoner, Umrer and Ramtek depots. There is a fleet of 1100 such buses in the State, said Nilesh Belsare, Divisional Controller, MSRTC, Nagpur, while talking to The Live Nagpur here on Friday.
Belsare said that the corporation was getting encouraging response from businessmen, traders, industrialists and others because of reasonable rates, exemption from toll tax, carrying materials in another carriage in case of a breakdown and facility to them for sealing the rear door providing guarantee and other facilities like water proofing. Oil companies, Social Forestry, Jalaram Foods, Balbharti, Tribal Projects, entrepreneurs from Nagpur industrial areas and others are sending their goods on regular basis because of trust in the corporation, he pointed out.
On the occasion, Swati Tambe, Divisional Traffic Superintendent, said that the companies and others preferred ST carriers for transporting ten tons of materials while others carry 7.5 tons and 15 tons of materials elsewhere. This is also one of the reasons for businessmen to prefer our carriers. Now, a stage has come that some customers are on the waiting list, she added. Giving details about the plan, Rajesh Dachewar, Assistant Traffic Superintendent, pointed out that the Headquarters at Mumbai is making efforts to get inter-state permit for transporting materials.
