First time after Covid, BMRCL earns profit

BENGALURU: The surge in ridership in Metro trains over the last few months has helped the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) get back to operational profits, which was witnessed before Covid set in. It has registered a profit of over Rs 12 lakh in the first quarter of 2022-2023.The unaudited financial results of BMRCL for the quarter ending June 30 of this financial year was presented and approved during its Board meeting on Thursday.

As per the balance sheet, the total revenue from operations stood at Rs 98.85 crore, while its costs were Rs 17.83 crore. “After deduction of overall expenses, the total profit stood at Rs 12 lakh,” explained a top official. The total revenue from operations stood at Rs 70 crore in the previous January-March quarter, 2022.

The massive beating BMRCL took due to Covid can be gauged from the fact that it earned only Rs 193 crore from operations during the financial year ending March 2022, while overall expenses stood at Rs 221.64 crore. The big positive is the huge dip in interest amount that BMRCL was paying toward its loans. “The interest we paid during the quarter was Rs 17.83 crore, a considerable dip from the Rs 24.18 crore we paid the previous quarter. We have repaid bulk sums when possible,” the official said.

AS Shankar, Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL, told TNIE, “The trains are getting crowded. We are averaging 4.7 lakh commuters per day and crossed 5 lakh ridership thrice on Saturdays. In the past, the ridership used to dip during weekends, but we are getting good patronage even on those days. In the next four months, we hope to touch a ridership of 5 lakh on many days. Our operational profit is only set to increase.”

Presenting stats to show the ridership picking up month on month, another official said a total of 146 lakh commuters boarded trains in July which averaged 4.7 lakh per day. “In June, we had averaged 4.6 lakh riders per day, which translates to another 10,000 riders hopping on to Metro trains daily,” he added.