The Telangana wing of the as-yet-undivided Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation has got the much needed money to the tune of Rs. 400 crore in the budget that was presented in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

Asked about the details, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Nanduri Sambasiva Rao said that while Rs. 150 crore was to help the corporation replenish its fleet by buying more buses, the remaining Rs. 250 crore was towards reimbursement of the concession in bus passes.

Mr. Rao said they would buy 400 to 600 buses, depending upon the category they firmed up. “Given the government’s social responsibility factor, we would normally buy more of the ‘Palle Velugu’ buses to reach out to the rural areas. However, we are also working out on buying some high-end air-conditioned buses for intra and inter-city travel,” he said.

As for the Transport Department, which is technically the 4{+t}{+h}largest contributor to the government’s revenues, after Prohibition & Excise, Commercial Taxes and Stamps & Registration, it has a budgeted estimate of Rs. 83.26 crore, according to the demand for grant for the financial year 2015-16.

The same figure for the fiscal 2014-15 was Rs. 66.94 crore and interestingly, there was no change in the revised estimate for the year 2014-15.

When asked about the department’s performance in the last financial year, a senior official said that against a revenue target of Rs. 2,189 crore for 2014-15, they had managed to collect about Rs. 1,500 crore, as of March 10.

Transport Department has budgeted estimate of Rs. 83 crore.