Telangana Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar today said that the state government was planning to hike the bus fares in the state.
Addressing a press conference with TSRTC Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan and MD V C Sajjanar, the minister said that the rise in ticket prices was necessitated by the rise in fuel prices.
"The Centre has been continuously increasing the diesel and petrol charges, which have led to losses for the TSRTC. The corporation's losses in just 2020-21 were Rs 2,329 crore. We are not able to run the TSRTC under the burden of the rising fuel charges. The state government needs to stem the losses to continue to provide better services to the people. We have already informed Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on the proposal to hike ticket prices, and will now give a report to him. We hope that the CM will take a decision to raise the ticket prices," the minister said.
The proposals are to increase fares by 25 paise per kilometre for Palle Velugu buses and 30 paise per kilometre for other buses. Raising the fares would lead to the TSRTC getting an additional income of Rs 850 crore, Ajay Kumar said.
Bajireddy urged the people to understand the situation and cooperate with the fare hike. The TSRTC used 6.8 lakh litres of diesel every day, he said.
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