Gujarat metro rail corporation’s annual report, presented in the Gujarat Assembly on March 3, showed the income earned by the company in 2020-21 was ₹4.42 lakh. As compared to last year, the revenue generated this year was six times less.
According to the report, just 130 passengers used the Ahmedabad metro in 2021-22, a significant decrease from the 900 passengers that used the metro in 2019-20.
As a result of the drop in ridership, passenger fare receipts fell from Rs 28.7 lakh in 2019-20 to Rs 4.42 lakh in 2021. The daily traffic in the Ahmedabad metro is now at 1000 people, and it is expected to skyrocket after the remainder of the Phase-1 metro rail network is completed in August 2022.
Currently, the Ahmedabad metro project connects 6.5 kilometers and aims to extend to 40 kilometers. The metro operations, initiated by Prime Minister Modi in March 2019, remained halted from April-August 2020 because of the Covid-19 lockdown and further restrictions.
The annual report also points out that seven trains are in service on the 6.5-kilometer track between Vastral Gam and Apparel Park, out of 32 trains imported from South Korea.
GMRC officials say that 83% of Phase-I of the Ahmedabad metro is complete. GMRC has already started development on the Ahmedabad Metro Phase-II, which would connect Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
