The recent hike in Namma Metro fares, announced by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), has evoked strong reactions from commuters. This analysis delves into the policies and decisions of both the Union and State governments over the past 12 years, drawing on documents available in the public domain and information obtained through RTI.
An analysis of these documents suggests that all the three concerned authorities, namely the Government of India (GoI), Government of Karnataka (GoK) and BMRCL, must take their share of responsibility for the stiff increase in fares. Some of the decisions indicate that the metro has become a high-cost operation, and other modes of mass transport have not been allowed to offer services at lower fares. The inevitable result is that the citizens will have to bear a high cost of public transport, making it unattractive compared to personal vehicles.
A recent survey conducted by Greenpeace India after the metro fare hike in February 2025 showed:
- 40.4% of respondents use the metro as their primary mode of transport.
- 62.9% rely on public transport (metro and buses combined).
- 73.4% spent ₹50–150 daily on transport.
- 68% of respondents stated that the fare hike made metro travel expensive.
- 75.4% cut down on non-essential travel due to rising costs.
- 38.2% of women have reduced their non-essential travel due to the metro fare hike in Bangalore.
- A majority believe the fare hike is unjust and harms urban mobility.
- Many commuters demand a rollback of the fare hike to restore affordability.
Proposal for Metro Phase 2 in Bengaluru
On June 25th, 2013, a meeting of the Public Investment Board (PIB) was held in New Delhi to consider the proposal of the Bengaluru Metro Phase 2 project. In his presentation, N Sivasailam, Managing Director, BMRCL, said:
“Phase 2 will bring in a fast, comfortable, safe and affordable mass transportation system which in turn will contribute to further development and prosperity of Bengaluru besides reducing pollution, accidents and overall travel time.”
In 2013, Namma Metro was projected as an affordable mass transportation system. However, its affordability seems to have taken a hit after the recent fare hike.
Read more: Bengaluru Metro is unaffordable for urban poor
- Through its communication dated February 21, 2014, the Central government approved the project. About the fare, it included the following clause (No 6 iv) in the sanction letter:
- A suitable arrangement, independent of the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) shall be provided for PERIODIC and AUTOMATIC fare revision for not only the proposed Metro but also for other competing modes. A mutually agreed schedule for periodic revision of fares for the Metro as well as other modes of transport will also be incorporated by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be signed with the Government of Karnataka.
- The MOU was signed three years later on February 24, 2017 between GoI, GoK and BMRCL. The clause about fare (under obligations of GoK) was as below:
- 12.17 – To make institutional arrangements for periodic fare revision for not only the proposed Metro but also for other competing modes.A mutually agreed schedule for the periodic revision of fares for the Metros as well as other modes of transport issued by GoK shall form part of this MOU.
- In the same MOU, there was a clause (No. 14.9} under the obligations of BMRCL. It reads as follows:
- To make statutory arrangements for periodic fare revision and a mutually agreed schedule for periodic revision of fares as well.
Here are my observations about the clauses
- The sanction letter had envisaged both periodic and automatic fare revision. However, the MOU talks about only periodic revision. Perhaps the authorities felt that it might be difficult to get acceptance of the commuters/citizens for an automatic revision.
- It is stipulated that if fares of Metro are to be revised, fares of other competing modes should also be revised.
- The MOU puts the onus on the Karnataka government to make an institutional arrangement for fare revision.
- The term ‘periodic’ has been left vague. No specific period (in terms of years) has been specified.
- Under the MOU, BMRCL is also obliged to revise the fares periodically.
Read More: Bengaluru suburban rail: A ‘rail’y good project moving at snail’s pace
Upper hand for Metro
It is apparent that the authorities do not want other competing modes like Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Suburban Rail to fix fares lower than Metro.
This is borne out by the documents on fixing priorities for the four corridors of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP). In his letter dated May 27, 2020, the Managing Director of K-RIDE requested the Karnataka government to finalise the priority of the four corridors of BSRP. In a letter dated June 3rd, 2020, the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) Commissioner recommended that Corridor 1 (KSR Bengaluru-Yelahanka-Devanahalli-Airport) must be the first priority.
Here are the reasons stated for this:
- If airport connectivity has to be limited to one mode; the suburban rail will emerge as the preferred choice, as the ‘cost is less’ compared to Metro rail.
- Construction cost of Suburban Rail Corridor is ₹3,700 crore, including the airport link.
- Construction cost of the airport metro line is ₹9,617 crores!
It is evident that the suburban rail was envisaged as a more affordable option as compared to the metro. In response to the letter written by MD, K-RIDE, dated May 27th, 2020, the BMRCL MD wrote to ACS-UDD GoK on June 3rd, 2020, listing the various implications of BSRP on Namma Metro. Two of these are relevant in this context:
- With such an advanced stage of consideration and a loan approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the Metro project, it will be better if similar proposals for the competing Suburban Rail Project are not posed to the same agencies. Therefore, K-RIDE may be advised to approach multilateral and bilateral agencies other than ADB and JICA for its funding needs.
- As both Metro and Suburban Rail will be providing similar services, their fare structure and periodicity of revision should by and large be the same to facilitate level playing field. The feasibility report of the Suburban Rail Project envisages much lower fare. In that event, there might be clamour from the public to seek matching lower fare in the Metro, which may lead to a need for higher receiving support from the State government.
BMRCL’s contention was accepted by both the State and Union governments. In the sanction letter of BSRP dated October 21st, 2020, a condition was incorporated which reads as follows:
“KRIDE shall have the autonomy in fare fixation, and the fare will be kept comparable to Bengaluru Metro.”
Thus, BSRP’s plan of offering services comparable with Metro at fares lower than Metro was scuttled.
Here are the fare structures for BSRP and Metro. The BSRP structure is from its DPR, and the Metro structure is as per the public notice issued by BMRCL on February 9th, 2025.
| Sr No | Distance range (kms) | Distance range (kms) | BSRP fare in 2025 (in ₹) | Metro fare from February 9th, 2025 (in ₹) |
| 1 | 0-2 | 10 | ||
| 2 | Less than 3 | 13 | ||
| 3 | 2–4 | 20 | ||
| 4 | 3–6 | 20 | ||
| 5 | 4–6 | 30 | ||
| 6 | 6–9 | 27 | ||
| 7 | 6–8 | 40 | ||
| 8 | 9–12 | 29 | ||
| 9 | 8–10 | 50 | ||
| 10 | 12–15 | 33 | ||
| 11 | 10–15 | 60 | ||
| 12 | 15–18 | 37 | ||
| 13 | 15–20 | 70 | ||
| 14 | 18–21 | 43 | ||
| 15 | 20–25 | 80 | ||
| 16 | 21–24 | 47 | ||
| 17 | 25–30 | 90 | ||
| 18 | 24–27 | 51 | ||
| 19 | More than 30 | 90 | ||
| 20 | 27–30 | 53 | ||
| 21 | ||||
| 22 | 30–33 | 60 | ||
| 23 | ||||
| 24 | 33–36 | 63 | ||
| 25 | ||||
| 26 | 36–39 | 67 | ||
| 27 | ||||
| 28 | 39–42 | 71 | ||
| 29 | ||||
| 30 | 42–45 | 73 | ||
| 31 | ||||
| 32 | 45–48 | 80 | ||
| 33 | ||||
| 34 | 48–51 | 83 | ||
| 35 | ||||
| 36 | 51–54 | 87 | ||
| 37 | ||||
| 38 | 54–57 | 91 | ||
| 39 | ||||
| 40 | 57–60 | 93 | ||
| 41 | ||||
| 42 | 60–63 | 100 |
The table shows that BSRP fares are lower for similar distance ranges. However, when BSRP starts its operations, chances are that its fare structure may be revised upwards to make it comparable to Metro. Citizens of Bengaluru could have benefited from the lower fares of BSRP but may now have to bear a higher burden.
Compulsions of BMRCL to increase fares
As per newspaper reports published on February 11th, 2025, BMRCL stressed that the fare revision was inevitable to meet debt payment obligations, cover depreciation requirements due to aging assets and to manage rising operational expenditure.
BMRCL’s justification cannot be doubted but we must ask some pertinent questions:
Why is the actual cost incurred on the project much higher than the originally approved estimates? Has the debt obligation significantly increased due to this overrun?
Metro’s Phase 1, covering 42 km, was initially estimated at ₹6,395 crore in 2005 but later increased to ₹ 14,133 crore. Similarly, Phase 2, covering 72 km, was estimated at ₹26,405 crore in 2014 but increased to ₹30,695 crore in 2022 and further to ₹40,614.27 crore in 2024.
Why has there been a considerable delay in completing the project and starting operations? If the operations had commenced as planned, BMRCL would have started earning revenue much earlier and, therefore, could have been in a more comfortable financial condition. Also, why was the fare not increased for over seven years? If small increases had been made on two or three occasions since the last increase in June 2017, commuters would not have felt the pinch.
All the documents mentioned in the article can be accessed here
A very enlightening analysis presented by the author. What stands out:
that the BMRCL sees the BSRP as a competitor and seeks some kind of fare parity, denying the Commuter a free choice
that significant cost escalations of BMRCL, consequently increase in debt resulting in financial stress which then reflects in the compulsion for fare
that over the last decade the BMTC (bus), which is an economical mode of tansport has lost significant share, due Government apathy and lack of support.
Road Transport infrastructure: that in the above situation, the GoK has announced several road projects estimated to cost nearly 100,000 crores!
It is quite clear that the GoK is intent on promoting private vehicle transport at the cost of Public Transport and hurting the commuter’s interest.
Excellent article with well-researched relevant data, Mr Devare. Thanks.
We hope those who clamour for Metro will also try to understand and push hard for work on Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) too which has the potential to provide equally good, if not better, services to Bengaluru.
Only when people start talking more about BSRP will our Public Representatives begin frequently monitoring and facilitating this much-delayed and much-needed project to complement Metro in providing Public Transport options in Bengaluru.
Who knows, with a practical option available, BMRCL may even not raise fares like they did just now.