KSRTC depots to have rooftop solar units

All the workshops and depots of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will have rooftop solar power units, according to Transport Minister D C Thammanna.

Speaking to reporters in Hubballi on Sunday, the minister said that it had been planned to generate 500 MW of power by installing solar power units atop the workshops and depots of state-run road transport corporations. The project would be implemented in public-private partnership mode.

Thammanna said that the KSRTC bus stands at taluk and district centres would be developed as commercial hubs. They would house government offices so that all services could be availed of under a common roof. The arrangement will also generate income for the Corporation. He said that the KSRTC was suffering losses by operating buses in local areas and such losses were being offset by the revenue generated by long-route buses.