Mumbai (Metro Rail News): As the metros across the country are facing losses owing to the lockdown, the Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) is exploring at non-fare revenue sources for the Metro 2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E) corridors, expected to be operational by May 2021 according to official sources.
MMMOCL which will be operating all metro corridors in the future has invited bids to undertake a study of the upcoming 30 stations on the two corridors and suggest measures to “maximise the revenue” in recent development.
The documents released by the MMMOCL states, “Public transport projects like metro are capital and maintenance intensive, hence will not be financially sustainable only depending on farebox revenues. The Metro Rail Policy adopted by the government of India stipulates the exploitation of various alternate revenue sources and opportunities such as advertising, commercial utilisation of land around metro station premises, transit-oriented developments (ToD), value-captured tax/financing, digital marketing etc.”
DK Sharma, managing director, MMMOCL was quoted saying, “We are expecting some out of the box ideas to maximise our revenue sources. The consultant will be expected to do a detailed study of all the stations.” The metro is facing losses worth ₹80 lakh to ₹1 crore each day.
As per a recent study conducted by a consultant appointed by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, metros across India are facing losses owing to various reasons, including sub-optimal monetisation of non-fare revenue options such as commercial space leasing, advertisement space leasing, property development, land monetisation, etc. due to various constraints, including regulatory and contractual restrictions.
Many cities have started exploring ideas around non-fare revenue but have not yet been able to achieve significant revenue. It will depend on the future course of time whether MMRDA makes any significant achievement in this matter or not.
