Panaji: Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) is incurring an additional Rs 70 lakh per month in fuel expenditure following an increase of Rs 11 per litre in diesel prices amid geopolitical tensions in West Asia, said chairman, Ulhas Tuyekar. He was speaking at the launch of the newly procured 53-seater Tata semi-luxury buses into its fleet on Friday.The corporation operates a fleet of around 630 vehicles of which 460 are diesel-powered buses. These were directly affected by the fuel price increase.KTC consumes about 4.5 lakh litres of diesel every month, with daily consumption averaging 15,000 litres. The corporation’s monthly diesel expenditure was around Rs 3.7 crore to Rs 3.8 crore before the latest price hike.The Rs 11-per-litre increase has translated into an additional monthly outgo for KTC because of the scale of its bus operations.For passengers, however, there is no immediate fare shock.Tuyekar said the corporation has so far decided against increasing bus fares despite the higher operating costs. “We continue to follow the fare structure that was last revised in 2019, and fares remain unchanged,” Tuyekar said on Friday.He further said that the KTC has ensured inclusion of women to ensure that there is women’s inclusion in the staff.“Our endeavour is to give good service to the people. Our commuters are already familiar that we have hired a woman ticket collector. We have now even selected a woman diver in this year’s recruitment process,” he added.
