Metro Rail is economically viable: Sreedharan

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is an economically viable project, said E Sreedharan, managing director, DMRC.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched Delhi's prestigious Metrol Rail on December 24.

The huge crowds thronging to travel by the train were an encouraging sight, he said. "We in the DMRC feel that Metro Rail is a viable project and it would not need government subsidies once it is fully operational," Sreedharan told rediff.com on Friday.

He said the daily operational costs of the DMRC stand at around Rs 7-8 lakh (Rs 700,000-800,000). "In the first two days of its operations on December 25 and 26 we earned a net revenue of Rs 4 lakh (Rs 400,000) per day and an estimated 300,000 passengers travelled by the four trains," he said.

"Our revenue generation should touch Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) per day very soon. This will help us garner a daily profit of around Rs 200,000," he said.

He said that the DMRC is confident it would pay back its massive Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) bank loan, raised for the project, within the stipulated time.

"We have to pay back the loan in 30 years. We will have no difficulty in doing so," he asserted.

Meanwhile, Sreedharan appealed to Delhi-ites to treat the trains as their own property and enjoy the rides. "They should feel that Delhi Metro is 'Mera Metro' (my Metro) and help DMRC in maintaining cleanliness and an efficient train system."

The Metro trains currently run between Tees Hazari and Shahdara.

The Union government has cleared Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) for the first phase of the project which is likely to be completed by September 2005, when the DMRC would cover 62.5 kilometers on seven major routes in the capital.

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