Thiruvananthapuram: The KSRTC may consider outsourcing body building on some of its new chassis to private parties due to scarcity of skilled labourers and bring down cost.
According to sources, the consignment of 380 new chassis ordered from a company may be built by private parties also for quality reasons.
“Building bodies outside is profitable compared to building bodies on our own as new M-Panel employees will have to recruited While they need to be paid Rs 480 per day, our permanent staffers have to be paid Rs 800 per day,” an official said.
The KSRTC which faced severe bus shortage due to phasing out of old buses last year is still on the course of recovery.
The Central Workshop in Pappanamcode can roll out only seven to eleven buses per week and this leads to chassis lying unused for months in the workshops.
Even if the workshops at Edappal, Aluva and Mavelikkara pitch in, it will take several months to induct new buses into the depleting fleet.
“The cost of building body on a chassis takes around Rs 8 lakh and better bodies can be built outside the state. It is difficult to get skilled welders and blacksmiths to meet our massive requirements,” the official said.
