Mumbai: The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited, nodal agency for the Metro Line-3 (Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ) has floated expression of interest to collaborate with brands, who wish to invest on metro stations for the rights of semi-naming and branding of their products.
The aim is to monetise commercial potential of Line 3 and enhance non-fare box (non-ticketing) revenue. As per MMRCL, the last date to make the submissions for the interested firms and brands is January 28. The request for proposals from them will be called.
It will be evaluated and those who quote impressive price will be given the station naming and branding rights. But, the bidder should have a minimum average gross turnover of Rs50 crore yearly in the last three years.
Likewise, MMRCL has floated a tender for its metro stations. If Rs10 crore is estimated to be the value of per (maximum price) station, it can earn Rs200 crore a year only by giving the station naming rights, a source said, requesting anonymity.
The selected firms will be allowed to put brand name and logo as prefix/ suffix to the station name at all places wherever the station name is displayed, they have applied for.
The brand holder can use neon signs logos and names at entries/ exits of the station. Spaces at the concourse, platforms, fare collection gates, staircases, elevators, lifts, platform screen doors, pillar wraps, entries and exits, the branding will be allowed.
Also, the selected entity will be offered to include the brand logo at the bottom of the Line-3 maps at the station as ‘Brand Partner’.
The source explained, “Bigger the station, bigger will be the value. In cities like Mumbai or Delhi, the metro station naming rights range from Rs1-10 crore yearly.
One can estimate the total value of top 5 stations of Metro-3 like Bandra Kurla Complex, Churchgate, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Airport stations — T1&T2, can easily fetch Rs40 crore a year.”
Promotion of any brand on airport fetches a lot of business as compared to other stations due to huge demand. Since the Metro-3 alignment has two airport stations it will help strengthen the non-fare box revenue substantially, asserted the source.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the Reliance Infrastructure-led Metro-1 has already given some stations naming rights to top brands. Three of its stations have been renamed such as ‘Vivo Ghatkopar, Bank Of Baroda Andheri, Ajmera Marol Naka’.
The Metro-1 makes an annual revenue of Rs40 crore through non-fare box revenue. The earnings grows every year, said the source.
Also, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing 14 metro lines comprising of 337 kilometres and 225 stations, too, will be raising the non-fare box revenue by selling station naming rights.
Interestingly, the FICCI-KPMG 2019 report has also anticipated that expansion of metro network across larger cities will increase the share of transit media from 34 to 45 per cent by 2021.
Wherein station naming rights will become an important source of revenue. The report finding takes out, “With new metro stations coming up, this can become a big revenue source, with a potential to reach Rs16 billion within four to five years.”
