The Kerala White Paper funds the Kochi Metro User Charges Regulatory Commission
Kochi Metro service at Vyttila. (file) | Photo credit: H. VIBHU
The White Paper on State Finance, presented at an assembly in Kerala on Thursday by Chief Minister VD Satheesan, explores the possibility of appointing a regulatory commission to set user charges for metro services, similar to the model used in the electricity sector.
The proposal appears at the end of the section detailing the performance of public enterprises. Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) sources were not available for comment on the regulatory commission’s proposal.
The document states that Kochi Metro is registering a monthly loss of ₹35 crore. Notwithstanding these losses, the White Paper proposes metro projects in two other cities – Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. According to the White Paper, Kochi Metro has an annual loss of ₹420 crore. However, KMRL did not dispute the ₹35 crore loss mentioned in the White Paper, contrary to what was reported by a section of the media.
From the very beginning, authorities associated with the Kochi Metro have pointed out that metros around the world are rarely profitable. In fact, Kochi Metro is among the four major metros in the country to report operating profits.
It started registering operating profit in FY2022-2023 and reported ₹5.35 crore. This grew more than fourfold to ₹22.94 crore in 2023–24 and further to ₹33.34 crore in 2024–25, marking three consecutive years of operating profit.
In 2024–25, Kochi Metro recorded operating revenues of ₹182.37 crore against operating expenses of ₹149.03 crore. This included ticket revenue of ₹ 111.88 crore, unsold ticket revenue of ₹ 55.41 crore, consultancy revenue of ₹ 1.56 crore and other income of ₹ 13.52 crore.
In its first year of operation in 2017–18, Kochi Metro recorded an operating loss of ₹24.19 crore, which fell to ₹5.70 crore the following year. However, the loss increased to ₹13.92 crore in 2019–20 and further to ₹56.56 crore in 2020–21, coinciding with the pandemic.
Work on the second phase of the Kochi Metro, which extends the line to Infopark and SmartCity via Kakkanad, is ongoing and is expected to be completed next year.
Published – 05 Jun 2026 13:28 IST