KOCHI: Though Covid has affected the revenue from operations, Kochi Metro’s (KMRL) non-ticketing revenue saw a surge in the financial year ended March 31, 2021. As per the annual report of Kochi Metro, the other income (mainly from leasing out spaces at stations and advertising) increased to Rs 127.49 crore from Rs 40.92 crore a year ago.
However, the lockdown did affect the revenue from ticket, which fell to `39.96 crore from `94.02 crore in 2020. The total income also increased to Rs 167.46 crore from Rs 134.95 crore during the year ago period. However, KMRL’s overall loss widened by Rs 24 crore to `334.17 crore from Rs 310.60 crore in 2019-20.
“The impact of Covid pandemic has affected businesses of KMRL in form of adverse impact on ridership as well as on alternative revenue activities. Kochi Metro stopped its operations from March 22 to September 6, 2020, as per the government directives.
During this challenging period, KMRL is striving hard to increase the reach to the market to get new customers for various retail kiosks and office spaces,” said KMRL chairman Durga Shanker Mishra in the annual report. As per the annual report, the number of passengers travelling in Kochi metro during the stipulated period was 38.20 lakh. A total of 41,762 trips were conducted during the year under review.
Rs 127.49 crore was earned by Kochi Metro by various other means, such as leasing out spaces at stations and advertising