MMRC plans to set-up eating and shopping options in Metro-3 corridor

The development in Mumbai is definitely exciting as Mumbaikars are all set to welcome a new wave in transport and lifestyle. The ease Mumbai Metro would offer to citizens is highly anticipated and now adding to the list of developments, officials have mentioned that Mumbaikars will be able to eat and shop from all underground stations on the Metro-3. The same will be implemented in 2021 on the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz metro route.

With an aim to lease out commercial spaces inside the stations, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) on Monday invited expression of interests (EoI) from parties interested in setting up open supermarkets, pharmacies and food courts, which would spread across 1.5 lakh square feet.

The current plan states that all the stations in the Metro-3 line will have the commercial spaces, however, MMRC officials have given special emphasis to Cuffe Parade, Siddhivinayak, Bandra-Kurla Complex and T2 of the international airport owing to the high footfalls. Keeping the same in mind, the department will lease areas between 20,000 and 40,000 square feet on multiple levels at the Metro stations, underneath the city.

Through this initiative, MMRC will generate a revenue of ₹20 to ₹25 crores annually. Such initiatives have also been mentioned in central government’s Metro Rail Policy 2017 where the department has asked many states to strategise on non-fare revenue generation through different measures like advertisements, commercial developments and other initiatives, which would also help reduce the fare for Metro.

Talking about the same, R Ramana, executive director, MMRC, said that this space will be accessible for both passengers and non-passengers, and hence the team plans to set-up food courts, supermarkets, salons, banks and pharmacies. Officials will also offer 300 to 1000 square feet space to smaller kiosks to vendors who want to set up food stalls, transit retail stores, ATMs and vending machines

Adding more thought about the plan, Shadab Siddiqui of Auctus Advisors (who manage the tender process for MMRC) told Hindustan Times that supermarkets and businesses will have to think of new ways of business as a large number of metro stations that will come up across the country over the next five years. New formats designed specifically for transit and grab-and-go retail already exist at different metro stations across the world and have proven to be beneficial.

As per recent development, one phase of the Metro-3 line in Mumbai will be functional by 2021 and will spread over 33.5 km underground, with an estimated footfall of approximately 14 lakh commuters every day.