Over the last 20 years of its operations, Delhi Metro, the lifeline of the capital’s residents, has established itself as the most reliable and efficient mass transport system in Delhi-NCR. With about 400 km of operational track on 12 different lines, it serves 6 million people of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh, and Ballabgarh across 3 states. Delhi Metro’s vast network connects key residential, commercial, educational, healthcare, and retail hubs in the NCR, besides integrating other modes of transport systems like railways and inter-state bus services. Recently on September 4, 2023, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) recorded its highest-ever passenger journeys in a single day at 71 lakh.
During the post-covid period, DMRC is facing the challenge of increasing revenue generation as it had suffered huge losses during the covid pandemic due to lockdowns and travel irestrictions. In 2019-20, DMRC had earned a revenue of Rs 3897.29 crore with an operating loss of Rs 865.79 crore. In the year 2020-21, the total revenue earned amounted to Rs 1761.23 crore. However, the DMRC’s current revenue had already topped 80% of the pre-covid level and the efforts are on to boost non-ticketing revenue by way of property development.
A number of property development projects have been executed in recent years. The shopping mall cum multiplex at Dwarka Sector 21 is a good example. The Hauz Khas Metro Station has also been redeveloped with a food court and other retail outlets. Encouraged by the positive response to our property development initiatives, we are giving it a further push and more property development projects are in the pipeline Also as part of boosting non-ticket revenue, we are open to taking up construction projects wherever feasible. We are already actively involved as a construction agency for the Mumbai and Patna metro projects.
We have made a global foray as a consultant. We are already working as a general consultant for the Dhaka Metro Project in Bangladesh. Further, expanding our presence as a consultant, we are actively bidding for metro projects across the world including metro projects in Tel Aviv (Israel), Alexandria (Egypt), Bahrain, Mauritius, and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).
