Hyderabad Metro reports losses in Q4FY24, cites Mahalakshmi scheme impact

The scheme, which offers free bus entitlement to ladies, has impacted the metro's average ridership.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail has reported losses in the quarter ending on March 31 (Q4) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24), attributing a major portion of the decline to the implementation of the Mahalakshmi scheme. The scheme, which offers free bus entitlement to ladies, has impacted the metro’s average ridership.

According to official figures released by Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T), the average ridership per day increased from 4.08 lakh passengers in Q4FY23 to 4.41 lakh passengers in Q4FY24. However, this growth was lower than the average ridership of 4.44 lakh passengers per day in Q3FY24.

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P. Ramakrishnan, Head of Investor Relations at L&T Limited, stated during the Q4FY24 financial report that the slight dip in ridership compared to the previous quarter was primarily due to the Mahalakshmi scheme’s impact on passenger numbers.

Meanwhile, L&T’s Chief Financial Officer, R Shankar Raman, expressed during a post-earning conference call that stricter mandates from IT companies for employees to return to office work could potentially boost ridership for the Hyderabad Metro Project.

He mentioned that although certain IT firms have stated that employees returning to the office may receive promotions and salary increases, it remains to be seen if employees are willing to transition from the convenience of remote work.