The State-run Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which operates the largest CNG fleet in the world, has recorded revenue loss to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore in the last decade. The losses incurred by DTC in the fiscal year 2002-2003 was Rs 792.02 crore, which surged to a whopping Rs 2,914 crore in 2012-2013.
According to DTC officials, the Corporation spends the most in paying interest to the Government annually. Since 1996, DTC has been getting loans from the Delhi Government to support its daily expenditure. In the fiscal year 2012-2013, the interest it paid to the Government was Rs 2,039 crore, while DTC’s earnings stood at Rs 1,324 crore only.
Transport experts have accorded the trend in surmounting losses in DTC’s balance sheet to mismanagement and poor debt management, which has bled the State-run bus operator dry. Details presented during the Assembly sessions reveal that the total losses incurred by DTC have risen significantly from Rs 792.02 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 2,914 crore in 2012-13. The last fiscal year recorded the highest jump with losses rising from Rs 2,431 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 2,914 crore in the last fiscal year.
“Non-implementation of scientific planning of routes, coupled with operating old standard floor buses also contributes to the escalating losses,” admitted a DTC official. The interest paid to the State Government annually has also witnessed a whopping increase from Rs 200.10 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 2,039 crore in 2012-13. Apart from this, the office expenditures of the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) have also witnessed a steep rise over the decade.
From Rs 535.64 crore in 2002-03, the office running expenditures have jumped to Rs 2,048.38 crore in the last fiscal year. The highest jump in office expenditures of Rs 400 crore, according to the estimates, was recorded between the fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12.