Reliance Infra seeks more non-fare revenue to make Metro 1 viable

Johny Joseph, fmr chief secy, will lead a committee to decide on the proposal by Reliance Infra to lease additional space

MUMBAI: To ascertain if the Mumbai Metro 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar) operator should be provided financial relief through non-fare box revenues, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has approved the appointment of a committee led by former chief secretary Johny Joseph. Sources told HT that the decision was taken at the executive committee meeting chaired by the chief secretary on Friday.

Metro line no-1 (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

Western India’s first metro line, the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line is a Public-Private Partnership project with Reliance Infrastructure holding 74% stake in Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) and MMRDA holding the balance.

MMOPL has submitted a proposal to MMRDA, seeking the leasing of additional spaces along the 11.4-km route for commercial, retail and advertising purposes. MMOPL’s annual loss is around ₹350 crore. Reliance Infra did not respond to HT’s request for a comment.

Among the spaces being considered for commercial exploitation is a six-storey building inside the D N Nagar car depot. The floors could be leased out to companies to operate their respective businesses and help MMOPL generate revenue. Besides this, the addition of more retail spaces in the non-passenger areas along the route is being considered. There are a total of 12 stations on this 11.4-km line and already significant areas have been leased out to retail players.

The new area being looked at to monetise is the over-500 pillars on which the entire line stands. If the independent study group approves MMOPL’s submission, there may soon be advertisement on these pillars.

Mumbai Metro 1 caters to around 500,000 passengers daily, and has been in operation since June 2014. Its fare was revised once, in November 2015, from ₹10, 20, 30 and 40 to ₹10, 20, 30, 35 and 45 for a single-journey ticket.

This July, MMRDA constituted the same “high-level committee” to ensure that improvements were made to reduce overcrowding on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line. This was in the aftermath of technical failure on one of the trains that led to excess crowding at the Ghatkopar and Andheri metro stations.

Joseph had also earlier chaired a committee to ascertain Mumbai Metro 1’s valuation, as the state government had plans to acquire the metro line. Based on the committee’s report, in March 2024, the Maharashtra cabinet had consented to acquiring the metro line for ₹4,000 crore, but reversed its decision three months later. Prior to reversing the decision, MMRDA requested the state government to provide financial support to acquire the project and infuse capital to upgrade the systems as well as place orders to procure new trains to meet increasing ridership.

Since the route’s opening, MMRDA and Reliance Infrastructure have been at loggerheads over the project’s construction cost. An arbitration is being contested in the court, with MMRDA being directed by the Bombay high court to deposit ₹1,169 crore with the registry.