Old KSRTC buses to morph into fish & grocery stalls

Thiruvananthapuram: KSRTC has been launching various ventures to boost revenues and tide over the crisis brought about by the pandemic as most of its bus services have been stopped since the lockdown kicked in.
The public transporter’s latest venture, KSRTC Fresh Mart, aims at revamping old and abandoned buses labelled as scrap and renting them out to government agencies such as Matsyafed, Meat Products of India, Kepco, Consumerfed, Supplyco, Kudumbashree, Horticorp and cooperative institutions to run their outlets at bus stands.
The announcement was made on its social media page. “On an average, 30 lakh people travel daily in KSRTC buses. Among them, some are government servants while some are from the private sector. Many people waiting for the bus at the depot may prefer to have a facility to purchase vegetables and other essentials from the bus stand itself. The bus stands, which could provide the facility for passengers, will become a shopping centre. As the construction of a shopping complex is an expensive option and takes time, KSRTC Fresh Mart has been launched by converting old buses into small stalls,” read the KSRTC’s post on the social media.
The buses, which are in the fleet for more than 15 years and that cannot be used for service will be modified for the venture.
Milma and Matsyafed have already agreed to start such stalls near bus stands at Thampanoor and East Fort. It will be a three-year contract and the agencies will have to pay rent for the vehicle as well as the leased-out land where the stalls will function.
“The scrap value of a bus comes to around Rs 1 lakh. This scheme will bring in additional revenue in the form of rent. The body of the bus will be modified and placed in the space set aside for setting up the stall. The agency will have to pay for the bus modification also. At Thampanoor, the stall will be started at a bus stand and at East Fort, a space near Putharikandom ground will be used to set up the facility. The stalls are likely to start functioning in the middle of August. Milma is considering our proposal to start their stall in KSRTC depots,” said a KSRTC official.
In the second phase of the project, KSRTC has proposed to start mobile Fresh Mart units based on demand.