Hyderabad: RTC awaits CM's guidance on utilising 500 crore loan

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation is awaiting the decision of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on how to utilise the loan amount of Rs 500 crore given by the Bank of India to the Corporation.

The Bank of India, which had assured to release Rs 1,000 crore, had released Rs 500 crore as the first instalment. However, the Corporation is unsure on how to use the funds. The Corporation, in a statement issued on Saturday, said that the TSRTC MD, executive directors, officers and supervisors and employees were working hard for the development of the entity as a team.

It said that the RTC team would approach the Chief Minister for his directions and advice on how to disburse the funds, and thereafter funds would be disbursed accordingly on priority basis. According to sources, the Corporation wanted to utilise the loan money to pay off dues of Provident Fund and Credit Cooperative Society (CCS) in the wake of the court's order. The court had directed the Corporation to pay the dues or face the jail term. However, sources said that Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar wanted the dues of the hired bus owners be cleared first. The Corporation had suffered a loss of Rs 2,600 crore because of the corona pandemic and liabilities like interest on bank loans, CCS and PF have increased, the statement said.