APSRTC to make use of land for augmentation of revenue

VIJAYAWADA: With an aim to overcome losses due to the Covid-induced lockdown and spiralling prices of diesel, the APSRTC has appointed a committee to identify the revenue sources and make use of the lands owned by the corporation.

The committee comprising regional managers, has conducted a survey in their respective regions and identified 1,900 acres of land in the state. Proposals are being made to make use of the land for augmentation of its revenue. It has been proposed to give the lands on lease for establishment of fuel stations, besides constructing commercial complexes.

The committee has identified the commercial land bank in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Tirupati. It is verifying the title deeds and registration documents of the available lands to submit them to the government.

Despite financial constraints, the RTC has renovated several bus stations across the State and leased out the space for housing various government departments that are shifted to Vijayawada from Hyderabad post bifurcation. The government has advised the RTC to construct commercial complexes in the bus stations across the state under the Public Private Partnership  (PPP) mode and make use of the revenue to come out of the red. 

RTC Executive Director (Administration) A Koteswara Rao said it has been decided to construct commercial complexes in seven existing bus stations in the State at a cost of Rs 150 crore under the PPP mode. The bus stations identified in the State under a pilot project include Auto Nagar (Vijayawada), Hanuman Junction (Krishna), Tirupati, Maddilapalem, Narsipatnam, Kurnool and Narasaraopet. 

A consultant has been appointed for the purpose and it is preparing designs for grounding the project. It may take at least three more months to ground the project works, he added.