The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) which was suffering huge losses has started earning profits, Maharashtra Industry Minister Uday Samant told the media on behalf of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Similarly, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is also earning profits, Samant added. Shinde heads both the undertakings.
Taking a ditch at ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray Samant said that miracles can happen if the minister works on the ground instead of running the office from home.
The government-run public transport services is making profits in only six states. MSRTC gets financial help from the state government as and when required. The transport corporation was facing losses in the last three to four years. It faced a financial crunch and was unable to pay even the salaries of its staff.
The Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government pulled the corporation out of the crisis, Samant said.
MSRTC suffered huge losses due to a complete shutdown for one year during the Covid-19 pandemic. The then Finance Minister Ajit Pawar decided to pay Rs 300 crore per month for payment of salaries to the employees. After Shinde became the Chief Minister decision to provide free travel to senior citizens above 75 years was taken; Rs 100 crore was paid as compensation to the State Transport; Rs 180 crore was paid for giving 50 percent concession to women travellers. The total compensation was around Rs 300 to Rs 350 crores, Samant said.
Out of the 31 divisions of the State Transport, 18 have registered profits during the current year. Beed district is at the top position, followed by Parbhani and Jalgaon.
The losses suffered by the MSRDC were around Rs 7,000 crore when Shinde took over as CM. It is now earning a profit of Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 crores, Samant said.