KOCHI (Metro Rail News): Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has announced the securing of semi-naming rights for all the 25 stations on its Blue Line, becoming the first metro network to achieve such a milestone for the growth in non-ticket revenue.
The Economic Times noted that a senior KMRCL official acknowledged the awarding of semi-naming rights for Vyttila Metro Station has reached its final stage. It will be finalised within the upcoming month and following that, the KMRL will generate 100% branding revenue from its active metro stations, while producing ₹ 6 crore a year.
With the expansion from 18 stations last year to all the 25 stations of Blue Line, the recent development marks a rapid progress towards non-fare box revenue (NFBR). The aim of the KMRCL is to achieve 51.52 per cent growth in the revenue operations to generate ₹ 50 crore in the year 2026-27, as compared to ₹33 crore revenue generated in the last financial year.
Reasons behind the decline in non-fare box revenue
While the Kochi Metro earned an operational profit of ₹52.64 crore for FY 2025-26, decreasing its net loss from ₹430.5 crore in the previous year to ₹352.49 crore recently. The drop in the revenue came because of the following reasons:
Get the Daily Metro & Rail Brief
Join 125,000+ metro and rail professionals. Project updates, new tenders and contract awards from across India, in your inbox every day.
Halting of Flow of Revenue from the Axis Bank: The Axis Bank, as part of the agreement for the automatic fare collection system, used to pay ₹30 crore annually that amounted to ₹209 crore royalty for the time period of 10 years. Since the ending of its agreement with KMRC in 2025-26, the revenue sources decreased.
Decline in Average Daily Ridership: The previous Detailed Progress Report (DPR) submitted by KMRCL during the planning phase notes that the average daily ridership fell within the range of 3.8 to 4.2 lakh after its Phase 1 became operational. But, the latest calculated average daily ridership is less than the numbers calculated by KMRCL before. It is just 1.25 lakh. With the fall in ridership across the network, there is a sharp decline in growth of revenue generation.
G Priyanka, the Managing Director of KMRCL, has directed the leaders of the departments involved to pace up the progress by initiating the foundational steps to start earning commercial profits. Since the commercial monetisation starts across the Phase 2 corridor that spans across JLN Stadium to Infopark, KMRCL will achieve its target of growing NFBR by 51.52%.
The Managing Director, while informing The Economic Times, said that 5 potential clients have approached KMRL for semi-naming rights. Once the semi-naming rights gets secured in August 2027, 11 stations will have co-branding rights along with the internal and external train advertising, as well as ad placements on pillars and medians.
Initiatives by Kochi Metro to increase non-operational revenue
Median Beautification: Along the 15 kilometres stretch between Edapally to Tripunithura, median beautification has been awarded. To generate ad revenues through license fees and advertisement placements, the contract has been agreed at a price of ₹ 30 lakh per annum.
Audio advertisements and film shooting: KMRCL will air audio advertisements just before the train reaches the upcoming station. The Kochi metro officials have also launched film shooting opportunities and ‘Save the Date’ reel making options inside the metro to generate revenue. Recently, a film shoot took place at the premises that helped the KMRL earn ₹ 1 lakh.
Collaboration with telecom companies: The government has officially rented out its underground fiber-optic cables to telecom companies to help expand local Wi-Fi and internet networks. Additionally, officials will soon invite bids to lease out public spaces and structures for cell phone towers. This strategy allows the authority to generate steady income by sharing its infrastructure with private service providers.
Property development revenue: The authority’s property development revenue at stations has grown, driven by major clients moving in. These include IIM-Calicut, which has a new building at the Cusat station, and the nine-story ‘i by Infopark’ facility located at South Station.
Revenue through EV charging hubs and leased spaces: KMRL continues to diversify its non-fare revenue through various station amenities, including EV charging hubs at Muttom and Cusat, and leased spaces for ATMs, a Federal Bank branch at Aluva, station dormitories at Pathadipalam and MG Road, and a hotel at Aluva.
The 31.43-acre Bliss City mixed-use development project in Kakkanad is moving into the active construction phase. According to officials, the opening stage of this mega project will deliver an integrated hub combining commercial spaces, retail shopping, and entertainment facilities.
Read nextKochi Metro Phase 2: Rail Consignment Arrives for 11.2 km Pink Line Corridor24 Sep 2026