RTC Bifurcation into APSRTC, TSRTC soon

Hyderabad: Stage is set for division of Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) post bifurcation of the State. While several institutions and government departments have undergone bifurcation, the RTC still remains under a single umbrella.

• Corporation is estimated to have liabilities of Rs 4,500 crore
• If distributed at 58-42 ratio between AP and TS, Telangana State government will inherit Rs 2,960 crore burden
• The third largest Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in the country, Tarnaka Superspeciality Hospital, etc will come under TSRTC control

The officials have almost completed the exercise to bifurcate the RTC and unveil Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on the eve of New Year. A team of officials will visit Delhi on December 14 to discuss with the Union government officials concerned on division of RTC assets and liabilities.

Division of employees between two states has already been completed. But distribution of assets and liabilities between them remains a knotty problem. The RTC board has allotted 63,481 employees, 94 depots and 9,310 buses to Telangana State. The TSRTC will have three zones, 11 regions and 352 bus stations. The TSRTC buses will undertake operations on 3,640 routes.

The officials have decided to postpone distribution of assets and liabilities between the two states for time being and bifurcate it to launch two corporations for administrative convenience. It is estimated that the RTC has liabilities of Rs 4,500 crore. If assets and liabilities are distributed between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State at 58-42 ratio, the Telangana State government will inherit Rs 2,960 crore burden.

Several assets, including the largest Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station, Jubilee Bus station and millions of rupees worth of assets, Tarnaka Superspeciality Hospital, Bus Body Unit and others, are likely come under the control of TSRTC.

By: K Srinivas