Mumbai: MSRTC chairman Pratap Sarnaik on Friday told media that a transparent and competitive tender process, conducted without allowing any interference, has helped the bus corporation secure a diesel discount at Rs 5.13 per litre, compared with the earlier Rs 3.He said the additional saving of Rs 2.13 per litre was expected to reduce MSRTC’s annual fuel expenditure by about Rs 240 crore.With the new tender, there will be a significant shift in how MSRTC bought diesel. Until now, the corporation procured fuel largely on a nomination basis from public sector oil marketing companies, without a competitive bidding process, and got a discount of Rs 3 per litre.Sarnaik added that the corporation, burdened with accumulated losses of around Rs 12,000 crore, could not rely only on ticket revenue when daily expenditure exceeded income by Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. The savings in fuel will help curtail losses. “A major breakthrough has come in diesel procurement through this tender. The MSRTC currently consumes around 10.87 lakh litres of diesel every day and purchases nearly 40 crore litres annually, with yearly spending of about Rs 3,400 crore,” he said.At the media conference on Friday, Sarnaik said that to diversify revenue, MSRTC is entering commercial fuel retailing through multi-modal fuel stations at 100 to 110 locations under the public-private partnership model. These outlets will offer diesel, petrol, CNG, LNG and, in the future, EV charging. The initiative is expected to generate around Rs 100 crore annually, with one such project already operational in Dhule. The corporation is also introducing AI-based sensors on fuel tanks and nozzles to curb leakage and irregularities in fuel filling.Till the end of February in the current financial year, MSRTC had already incurred losses of nearly Rs 750 crore.Sarnaik said the corporation began implementing a multi-pronged strategy to create sustainable alternative income streams while tightening expenditure. Advertisement revenue is another key focus area for earning Rs 250 crore over five years.Solar rooftop and solar farming projects are also being rolled out by MSRTC to save energy and generate additional annual income of Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore. MSRTC has set a target of earning at least Rs 500 crore in additional income next year through these and other reforms, he added.MSRTC operates over 16,700 buses across 252 depots statewide, with 8,000 new diesel buses expected to join the fleet this year.
