Minister Antony Raju inaugurating the 'Yathra fuels', Indian Oil petrol pump in KSRTC bus stand Thrissur | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, reeling under financial constraints, has made Rs 153.43 crore so far from running fuel pumps across the state.
The corporation has decided to open up 50 of the 72 pumps it operates under 93 depots, to the public for retail sale. They were exclusive to corporation buses.
Last year, the fuel companies forced the corporation to pay Rs 27.88/litre higher than the retail price citing that the KSRTC was a ‘bulk purchaser’. This had cost the corporation a huge loss. As a result, it stopped purchasing fuel directly from fuel companies and began buying it from retailers. It also led the corporation to wonder why it couldn't use the fuel pumps it already owned for retail sale. KSRTC has 66 pumps of IOC, 5 of HPCL and one pump of BPCL.
The public fuel stations will be named ‘Yathra’. By the end of this year, KSRTC will own the largest fuel retail chain in the state. The fuel station at Vikas Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram will be inaugurated on Monday.
These pumps will be manned by staff who lost their jobs during the restructuring of the corporation.