Hyderabad: The RTC bus ticket fares in Telangana state are all set to go up. This was disclosed by transport minister P. Mahender Reddy at a press conference here on Thursday, after he launched the TSRTC logo.

Mr Reddy said the APSRTC will be bifurcated on May 28 and TSRTC would start functioning independently on the same day. The minister said, “The ticket fare hike is imminent, because we have recently hiked the salaries for RTC staff significantly by effecting 44 per cent fitment. Moreover, the diesel prices have gone up sharply with two price hikes in a matter of 15 days. All this has imposed an enormous financial burden on the RTC. The government cannot bear the entire cost and the passengers have to share some of the burden. But the government will take precautions to ensure that poor and common people are not hit by effecting minimal price hike for ordinary buses.”

However, Mr Reddy clarified that the RTC management is still in the process of deciding on the quantum of price hike.

He said a committee was formed to look into various aspects to make the corporation overcome current operational and accumulated losses, and make it profitable.

Referring to the bifurcation of the transport corporation’s assets, Mr Reddy said the assets which are in Telangana will remain with TS, and those in AP shall belong to that  state.

He added that there is no question of sharing these assets in proportion to population of both the states. He added that the government has sanctioned Rs 150 crore to purchase 500 new buses for TSRTC.