BENGALURU: At present, the BMRCL suffers a loss of Rs 64 crore a month. The ridership figure touches an average of 1.9 lakh per day now with the daily earnings touching Rs 39 lakh.
“With the ridership expected to zoom to 5 lakh commuters per day, the operational losses each month can be reduced drastically as daily earnings are expected to cross Rs 1 crore. It could even touch the single digit figure,” said a top official.
Operational cost per day refers to the employee cost, fuel cost, housekeeping cost, the token cost and all other expenses involved in daily operation.
However, the overall annual loss suffered by BMRCL is around Rs 450 crore for the financial year 2016-2017, another source said. “The opening up of the Underground Corridor has resulted in a huge investment in infrastructure thereby causing an increase in the loss figure.
There will be a depreciation of assets every year which is also responsible for the loss,” he added.
Asked about the possibility of Bengaluru Metro making profits, the official said, “No Metro anywhere in the world makes profits. The objective for any big public transport is to sustain the organisation through its operations rather than depend on the government support for sustenance.”