Odisha govt suffers loss of more than Rs 374 crore in LAccMI scheme: Minister

Odisha government is incurring huge losses in the operation of LAccMI bus scheme in the State, informed Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena in the Assembly on Thursday.

According to the Minister, Odisha government has suffered losses amounting Rs 374, 08, 58,055 for the operation of LAccMI scheme across the State in 10 months duration from October 2023 till August 2024.

Answering to a question of BJP MLA Bibhuti Bhusan Pradhan, Minister Jena said that a total of 1,340 buses are running across the State under LAccMI scheme.

“The State government has spent Rs 399 crore for the plying of buses across the State under LAccMI scheme. However, income of only Rs 25, 03, 86, 585 has been generated,” said Jena.

Though the outgoing BJD government initiated the LAccMI scheme to establish a seamless public transport network from panchayats to the State capital, it completely failed to serve its purpose.

After the formation of BJP government in the State, it has been decided to rename the scheme as ‘Mukhyamantri Bus Seva’.

However, it will be a tough challenge for the new government to run the scheme due to the huge amount of loss, believe experts.