With the Kochi metro’s loss hovering at ₹335 crore in 2022-23, ₹4.2 crore lesser than during the previous fiscal, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has fast-tracked efforts to garner income from alternative revenue sources.
They include income from developing 17 acres in Kakkanad as Bliss City, which was hitherto a non-starter, to lessen the revenue-expenditure gap. Interestingly, the metro had made ₹5.35-crore operational profit during the fiscal.
Attributing the approximately ₹1-crore daily loss to inclusion of the loan-repayment component, KMRL managing director Loknath Behera said efforts were on to improve revenue from non-ticketing avenues such as real-estate development and advertisements.
“Although there were enquiries from many companies, there was slack response to the Expression of Interest [EoI] for the Bliss City project in 2022, possibly since developing 17 acres seemed a tough proposition. Hence, it has been subdivided into five plots, based on which tender has been floated,” he added.
Informed sources said the metro agency hoped to earn at least ₹1.70 crore as rent each month from the Bliss City project, at the rate of an estimated ₹10 lakh from each acre at the site. Efforts are on to acquire another 14 acres for the project. Discussions have begun with builders, developers, and others in a bid to convert the space into a hub where commercial, hospital, hospitality (including convention centre) and entertainment avenues co-exist.
In addition, efforts have been stepped up to mop up revenue from advertisements at exterior and interior of metro stations, from metro pillars, trains (wrapping the exterior of coaches with ads) and from medians. This is apart from selling semi-naming rights of stations, based on which names of 10 stations have already been pre-fixed with names of the respective brands, they added.
That the metro attained operational surplus this fiscal is a cause for cheer, said M. Ramachandran, who had served as Union Urban Development Secretary.
“The ideal ratio between income from fare and non-fare revenue is 60:40. Ultimately, the worth of a metro-rail system cannot be assessed just on the basis of profit or loss making. The system of mass rapid transport [which carries approximately 90,000 people per day] has got tremendous socio-environmental benefits — mainly by lessening traffic congestion and pollution. The criterion to assess it must be whether it is an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective mode of public transport.”
One needs to think of how Kochi will be, sans the metro. A metro is critical for the city’s future, especially since it would become an essential part of life, say, 20 years down the lane. However, care must be taken to speed up its extensions to Kakkanad, airport, and other locales, to make its operations fully viable. Simultaneously, last-mile connectivity through a fleet of buses and autos too must be readied to increase ridership. In addition, ample space must be created for two wheeler parking, Mr. Ramachandran added.
