Report card on ASTC's 'green' initiative: Here's what Business North East learned

Guwahati: The Assam State Transport Corporation(ASTC), in its attempts to revolutionize public transport in Assam, has recently introduced 300 air-conditioned buses including 100 CNG buses and 200 electric buses for Guwahati and its neighbouring areas.

Rahul Chandra Das, the Managing Director of ASTC, in a recent conversation with Business North East, attests that these buses have become "more and more popular among people" over the past year. However, profitability remains a distant dream.

On being asked about the revenue growth after the introduction of these state-of-the-art buses, the MD revealed that the buses are incurring losses at the moment. "For maintaining a CNG bus, we have to spend a lot of money. The ticket prices have also remained the same, meaning returns are not that high", said Das. However, at the same time, he noted that the buses are meant for "public service" and attain the aim of 'green Guwahati'. Launching this initiative in 2022, the MD said that CNG buses would be the "need of the hour" to accomplish the government's goal of transforming Guwahati into a 'smart city'.

Flagging 200 new EV buses earlier this month, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Guwahati is set to transform into a "fully green transport system" within the next two years with 500 EV buses. According to media reports, the state government has so far invested Rs 261 crores in these eco-friendly alternatives to the traditional fuel-guzzling buses.

"We are hoping that the 200 green buses introduced recently will generate profit for the ASTC. However, the public service motive remains our priority as always", said Das.

According to Assam Minister Bimal Borah, efforts will be made to "reduce pollution" in addition to giving consumers "more mileage" through these initiatives. He also confirmed that there will be an attempt to build more CNG stations throughout the state.

The ASTC, which is seeking a revival, has also launched an ambitious city cab service to compete with private players such as Ola and Uber on Guwahati roads. In November, it was reported that 9,000 city cab service taxis have joined hands with the ASTC to provide services to commuters.

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