‘NBSTC sees record revenue collection of Rs 17 cr in Oct’

PINAK PANI CHOWDHURY, MP, 13 Dec 2023 : North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) saw a record revenue collection of Rs 17 crore in October, the highest ever, stated Partha Pratim Roy, Chairman, NBSTC. 

“It is true that NBSTC has broken all past records of revenue collection in October. Our total revenue collection in October was Rs 17 crore covering all North Bengal districts. At present, our average revenue collection is around Rs 15 crore to Rs 16 crore in a month,” Roy said, talking to Millennium Post. 

According to him, before 2021 the average monthly revenue collection of NBSTC was around Rs 9 crore. “It is our target to further increase revenue collection,” he added. 

The Balurghat Depot of the NBSTC has been a major contributor to NBSTC’s revenue. The average revenue collection is more than Rs 80 to Rs 85 lakh in a month in this depot. Ashok Kumar Chakraborty, the depot-in-charge of Balurghat said: “In November, the revenue collection was Rs 85 lakh from this depot. After all expenses, our average profit in a month has been around Rs 10 lakh for the past one year. Our average revenue collection has increased by 15 percent this year.” 

He said that this increase in revenue collection has been possible owing to the betterment in passenger service. “Regular operation of additional buses in some important routes; regular monitoring on the roads are contributory factors. The number of breakdowns has drastically reduced. We maintain our buses properly before placing them on routes. We are also concentrating on reducing the expenses. The trade unions also support us to run the depot smoothly,” he said. 

There are about 40 buses in the Balurghat depot while 26 buses are being run everyday keeping some buses on standby for emergencies. Out of 26 buses, 14 buses run on Balurghat-Malda route, five on Balurghat-Raiganj route, four on Balurghat-Kolkata route and one each on Balurghat-Krishnanagar, Balurghat-Asansol and Balurghat-Siliguri routes. 

The depot has 22 permanent and 110 contractual employees. During the Left regime, the revenue collection had hit rock bottom. The salary disbursement of the employees was also irregular. After coming to power in 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led state government gave a lot of emphasis on the NBSTC. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/nbstc-sees-record-revenue-collection-of-rs-17-cr-in-oct-544155