The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on Monday presented a financial white paper and listed a 19-point plan to breathe new life into one of India’s biggest public transport bus fleet organisations, with the Maharashtra transport minister and chairman of the undertaking seeking four years for its revival and profits. Insiders, experts and trade unions said the report was nothing new but a rehash of already-known points and was like an “old wine in a new bottle.”

The financial white paper submitted on Monday stated that in the past 45 years, the MSRTC was profitable for just eight years. Given the fact it provides public transport service to the deepest rural pockets of the state, making it affordable to the common man, the corporation needs to be turned around to become financially viable in the future. In the year 2018-19, the accumulated loss of the MSRTC was about Rs 4600 crore, but after the pandemic, lockdown and long-term strike by its employees, the accumulated loss has now reached Rs 10,322 crore. Of this, employees’ dues account for about Rs 3000 crore, the paper stated.

Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik at MSRTC  headquarters in Mumbai Central yesterday