MMRC invites bids for branding and semi naming of 22 metro stations in stage two
In stage 1, semi naming and branding rights were issued for five stations — Churchgate, Hutatma Chowk, CSMT, Siddhivinayak and BKC.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) recently welcomed bids for the semi-naming and branding rights of 22 stations of the Metro Line 3 as a part of stage 2.
Semi-naming is a concept in which brands or logos of business houses can be prefixed or suffixed to the names of metro stations.

In stage 1, semi-naming and branding rights were issued for five stations — Churchgate, Hutatma Chowk, CSMT, Siddhivinayak and BKC. There are a total of 26 underground Metro stations and one overground station on the 33.5-km-long Metro Line 3 which runs between Colaba and SEEPZ via BKC.
The MMRC has mandated that only companies incorporated under the Companies Act can participate in the bidding process. Moreover, the minimum average turnover should be Rs 50 crore in the preceding three years.

Meanwhile, as per the MMRC’s detailed project report, total ridership forecasted for 2025 is approximately 13 lakh passengers per day which is expected to be one of the busiest lines in the world. According to estimates, BKC station will see 1.93 lakh ridership by 2025 and 2.33 lakh ridership by 2031. SEEPZ will witness 1.18 lakh ridership by 2025 and 1.35 lakh by 2031 and Marol Naka will see 1.06 lakh ridership by 2025 and 1.23 lakh by 2031.
The MMRC, a Joint Venture-Special Purpose Vehicle is a 50:50 partnership of the Government of India and Maharashtra government. As per the Union Cabinet’s approval granted for this project, Rs 1,000 crore is to be mobilised from non-fare box revenue sources or revenue collected from sources other than ticketing. Therefore, the MMRC is also focussing on those modalities.
The Metro line is scheduled to be commissioned in two phases. Phase 1: Aarey to BKC by December 2023, and Phase 2: BKC to Cuffe Parade by June 2024.