Faced with the prospect of having to raise approximately ₹12 crore per month as repayment for loans availed from banks and lending agencies from September onwards, and with mounting operational and maintenance expenses, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has sought the Centre’s permission to resume operations while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.
KMRL also highlighted the need to pay salary to its approximately 1,000 personnel, including those from Kudumbashree deployed for housekeeping and other duties at metro stations and the coach depot in Muttom. Another incremental expense that the metro agency stares at is the one for operation and maintenance of 25 trains, the viaduct and other amenities, the defect-liability period of which has expired, it is learnt.
“We apprised the Centre of the need to resume metro operations as soon as possible in the 25-km Aluva-Pettah corridor,” said Alkesh Kumar Sharma, KMRL Managing Director. “Kochi Metro’s daily average pre-lockdown ridership was 60,000 passengers in the Aluva-Thykoodam corridor. This is in contrast to the volume of passengers in Delhi Metro – around 60 lakh – and in smaller metros like Bengaluru where daily ridership is 4.50 lakh. The precautions that we adopted to ensure safety of passengers were also highlighted,” he said.
KMRL has also sought a six-month loan moratorium, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in the wake of the pandemic. The metro agency had availed loan from French lending agency AFD, Canara Bank and Ernakulam District Cooperative Bank.
“Being a capital-intensive project, the State government will provide funds during the initial years. Alternative sources to generate revenue in the long run holds the key for the metro becoming self-sustaining. For this, we are banking on approximately ₹1,000 crore from the wellness-cum-entertainment hub that has been envisaged in Kakkanad. The consultant is expected to submit its detailed project report this month,” said Mr. Sharma.
Kochi metro had managed to achieve operational break-even in the last quarter of 2019, with revenue from ticketing and non-ticketing expense exceeding daily operational expenses. This could not be sustained due to fall in patronage and subsequent halting of all metro services nationwide. Although bereft of income from ticket sale and slump in rent from shops and commercial establishments that remain closed in metro stations, expenses remain much the same since there are recurring costs such as keeping automatic signals and other systems in operable condition, according to metro sources. For this, a few trains keep operating in the corridor every day.
