According to sources, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) may take over operations of Mumbai’s Metro corridor –Metro One (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar).
This comes after Reliance Infrastructure, which runs the corridor, has decided to offload its stake in the project. MMRDA has 26 per cent stake in the special purpose vehicle whereas Anil Ambani owned Reliance Infrastructure holds 69 per cent.
Moreover, the concession agreement between MMRDA and R-infra-promoted MMOPL was signed on March 7, 2007. The total cost of the project built on a public-private partnership (PPP) model is estimated at ₹2,356 crores.
Metro one, with a ridership of 4.5 lakh every day, has an average revenue of ₹1 crore every single day. However, amidst the losses, Reliance Infrastructure has written to the Maharashtra government, stating that it wants to sell the stakes it owns in the company. Metro-1 has been shut for five months owing to the coronavirus outbreak and had been suffering losses prior to lockdown as well.
Back in 2017, the Mumbai Metro had stated before the Bombay High Court that it was suffering a loss of ₹90 lakhs per day during a hearing on the petition of tariffs.
However, the MMRDA has been working on 10 metro corridors across Mumbai, but none of them has been on the public-private partnership model. Currently, the corridor has connectivity with the Western Railways at Andheri and Central Railways at Ghatkopar. In 2021, it is touted to have connectivity at DN Nagar on Link Road and Western Express Highway station in Andheri east.
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