DMRC suffered loss of Rs 1,609 crore due to closure of metro services: Hardeep Singh Puri

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) suffered a loss of around Rs 1,609 crore due to the closure of metro services in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Bangalore Metro, Lucknow Metro, Chennai Metro and Kochi Metro also incurred losses due to Covid-19, he said.

Metro services across the country were shut on March 22 to contain the spread of novel coronavirus. They resumed on September 7 in a phased manner. Full-fledged normal operations resumed on September 12.

"DMRC has informed that loss of revenue due to the closure of metro services in view of Covid-19 pandemic is around Rs 1,609 crores," Puri said in a written reply to a question.

During the lockdown period, he said, preparatory work like detailed designing, preparation of tender schedule and finalisation of tenders, among other things, had been carried out by the DMRC.

Puri said the DMRC has informed that payments towards its loan have been made as per schedule.

He said Bangalore Metro, Lucknow Metro, Chennai Metro and Kochi Metro also suffered losses of Rs 170 crore, Rs 90 crore, Rs 80 crore and Rs 34.18 crore, respectively, due to Covid-19.

Responding to another question about the government's strategy to mitigate the effect of losses incurred by the DMRC, Puri said measures to enhance revenue through various innovative means like provisioning of the feeder system, property development at stations and on other land, leasing of spaces, Transit-Oriented Development and Value Capture Finance are enumerated in the Metro Rail Policy, 2017.

"Ensuring financial sustainability during operations of the metro rail system is the responsibility of state government," the minister said.