Asthana was speaking after the revised budget for the year 1999-2000 was passed by the BEST committee. The revised budget shows an increase in revenue income of Rs 4 crore for the electric supply division and Rs 12 crore for the bus division. Due to the changes, there will be a deficit of Rs 15.11 crore instead of Rs 31.11 crore in 99-2000 (revised) and a surplus of Rs 42 lakhs instead of a loss of Rs 58.30 crore in 2000-2001 (budget) as proposed by the General Manager.

Asthana said there were 231 routes in B class (nocash loss but hardly any profit either) and 210 routes in C class. The latter comprises loss-making routes where even the expense of the diesel and driver's salary cannot be recovered. He added that with the decreasing load factor, establishment and diesel costs too have risen considerably leading to losses for the bus division.

Asthana said the BEST is looking for a suitable location in the city to locate its proposed 350 mega-watt power generation plant. He said they have talked to the Maharashtra Government about the proposal and have identified a piece of land in the Mulund-Ghatkopar area owned by the salt commissioner. The estimated cost of the power plant at current estimates would be around Rs 1,500 crore.

At present, the BEST has a fleet of 3,469 buses. At the committee meeting held earlier, Asthana suggested that the number should not be increased and new buses should be bought only to replace the old ones. About introducing double-decker buses on certain routes, he said the issue was debatablesince the cost of running a double-decker bus was Rs 6.60 per km as compared to Rs 5.30 per km for a single-decker. The speed factor was also an issue, he said, adding that serious thought should be given to the introduction of CNG buses since their running cost was Rs 5 per km.