MUMBAI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has reported a staggering accumulated loss of Rs10,324 crore by the end of FY 2023–24 – more than double the Rs4,603 crore recorded in 2018–19 – according to a white paper released on Monday.
The disclosure, presented at MSRTC’s headquarters in Mumbai in the presence of Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik and MSRTC Vice Chairman and Managing Director Madhav Kusekar, reveals that the country’s largest state-run transport undertaking was profitable in only eight of the past 45 years – namely 1987–88, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09 and 2009–10.
Sarnaik pointed out that in four of those eight years, the corporation was headed by the current state finance principal secretary O. P. Gupta, who then served as MSRTC’s vice chairman and managing director.
The unaudited MSRTC figures for FY 2024–25 indicate a further loss of Rs1,217 crore, suggesting that the financial burden is only mounting.
KSRTC
This is not an isolated case. Kerala’s own KSRTC has also been incurring losses for several years.
According to official figures available up to FY 2015–16, KSRTC had accumulated losses of Rs6,048.26 crore. The decline has continued since. For the latest fiscal, FY 2023–24, KSRTC reported a net loss of Rs1,314.05 crore, taking its accumulated deficit to Rs19,369.59 crore as of March 31, 2024, based on provisional data.
MSRTC, which once operated with over 1 lakh employees and 18,500 buses, now has 87,000 employees and a fleet of 14,500. KSRTC too has seen a similar downsizing, even as it continues to grapple with operational challenges and financial instability.
