Eighty per cent of the retail space at 63 metro stations has already been booked by Larsen and Turbo Hyderabad Metro Rail for the market price ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 900 per sft. One station at Jubilee Check Post will not have any retail space.

Incidentally, majority of the bookings had been done even before the station works commenced. This is because station space will be licensed out to vendors for day-to-day requirements of the people. The station areas range from 2,000 to 3,000 sft and will be managed and maintained by L&T.

A senior officer said, “Our policy for retail outlets is to meet the day-to-day requirements of people. For that we have sought feedback from people on social media and identified sectors which people stated as their daily requirements.”

These were identified as vegetable super markets, pharmacies, laundry, dairy parlours, stationery, gift items, food joints and coffee shops. Stations with huge retail spaces will also have entertainment zones for children.

The idea is to ensure that Metro Rail and its stations are able  to meet the daily requirements of the passengers.

An officer said, “Office goers usually leave early in the morning and when they come back late in the evening they again go out to the super market, stationery store to pick up provisions. We want that on the way back from work, Metro users should have access to convenience stores that will provide what is required.”

Surprisingly, pharmacy stores have been already booked in all the stations. There are 11 stations, including Nagole and Uppal, where the retail space is at the entry and exit points.

There are also washrooms at the concourse level and the hygiene factor will be specially taken care of.

A senior Metro officer said, “We are going to have extra security personnel to ensure that the station area is not littered by licensed vendors or by commuters. A strict check will be kept as we have to maintain the Metro property as per international standards.”