Srinagar, June 12: Jammu and Kashmir government had spent Rs seven crore on acquiring a new fleet of buses for the state road transport corporation to put it on track for economic revival following many years of loss making. Intervening during the question hour, chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said that the government had spent Rs seven crore for acquiring 70 deluxe coaches from April 2002 to April 2003.

Sayeed said that the funds for acquiring the new buses was raised through loan of Rs 5.32 crore from Jammu and Kashmir Bank with a margin money of Rs 1.68 crore.

An amount of Rs 32.24 lakh was paid as interest on the loan raised for acquisition of the buses during the last year, he said.
Admitting that the SRTC had been running in losses for past many years, Sayeed said that the corporation was running buses in public interest on many routes, which was not profitable.

He said that the year 2003-2004 was being adopted as the productivity year fro MSRTC where in the thrust would be laid on increased fleet and vehicle utilisation.
It would lead to improvement in the revenues performance and reduce losses, he added.

Bureau Report