Maharashtra: Six fuel stations to come up in Marathwada at MSRTC sites
AURANGABAD: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to set up 30 fuel outlets across the state with the help of a private oil company with six of them slated to come up in Marathwada, including one on the outskirts of Aurangabad city.
Shekta near Aurangabad on the Dhule-Solapur national highway, Jalna and Georai, Ambajogai, Dharu and Kaij (all Beed district) are among MSRTC-owned sites in the region where the outlets are slated to come up.
As per an MoU signed between the state transportation and the private oil company, these outlets are scheduled to sell petrol and diesel. They will also establish Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuelling facilities at these identified sites as per feasibility and availability. As per the MoU, the MSRTC will operate these outlets for 20 years. MSRTC Aurangabad divisional controller Arun Siya on Saturday said that the state transportation owns nearly five-acre land at Shekta. “The existing facility has a bus-stand and a large unused open space. The site falls on busy Dhule-Solapur national highway and is expected to witness good sale of fuel once the outlet opens up,” he said.
Siya said that the private oil company concerned is expected to visit the site sometime next week for surveying the land and completing other formalities.
Shrirang Barge, general secretary of the Maharashtra ST Employees’ Union, said that the MSRTC must come out of deepening losses during the current pandemic as it is lifeline to lakhs of commuters from Maharashtra.
“The state transportation was already in financial crisis and the outbreak of Covid-19 has been causing unprecedented loss of revenue to the company. It is good that the state government has been witnessing alternate source of revenues to give some economic boost. We hope that the initiative of setting up fuel outlets materialises soon and made to work in a profitable manner,” he said.