NEW DELHI: Despite the stated focus of both state and central governments on improving public transport, the number of buses operated by state road transport undertakings (SRTUs) decreased from nearly 1.52 lakh in 2018-19 to around 1.47 lakh in 2021-22. What is particularly alarming is that the revenue losses of SRTUs surged by nearly 68 per cent during this period, reaching Rs 30,192 crore in 2021-22.
Sources said that the main reason behind the mounting losses was the record fall in revenue from passenger tickets during the two Covid-19 impacted periods of 2020-21 and 2021-22. The first quarter of FY22 (April-June) was worst impacted due to second spell of the pandemic.
They added that though there has been some recovery in revenue post the pandemic, all SRTUs, except few including Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, incurred losses in the past two years as well for two reasons — first, fuel prices have not come down; and second, there has been no increase in fare. Added to that, many states are “forced to” offer free bus rides to women.
As per the latest annual report released by the road transport ministry, 58 SRTUs operated around 72.3 per cent of their fleet for ferrying passengers, and on an average each bus made daily trips covering 218 km in 2021-22. The total number of buses operated in FY22 was around 1.1 lakh, compared to 1.35 lakh during FY19. Just years before the pandemic, which hit the public transport system badly, fleet utilisation was 88-89 per cent and productivity of each bus was between 291 km and 298 km per day.
“In recent years there has been a lot of focus on operating electric buses for public transport, but the addition of these buses to the existing fleet is minimal. This is because before putting such buses to service we must have depots and proper charging facilities. There is progress and the results will be visible in the next one year,” said a senior government official.