Hyderabad: Metro lines do more than moving people faster — they quietly reshape household finances. In India’s two major tech-driven cities, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, access to metro rail has begun easing the burden of home loans, lowering repayment stress and encouraging borrowers to close loans earlier. A new study shows that reliable mass transit can translate into steadier cash flows, fewer missed EMIs and healthier household balance sheets.The findings emerge from a study titled ‘Golden Decade of Infrastructure Development in India with Special Reference to Metro Rail Network,’ conducted by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. The study, a copy of which is with TOI, examines how Metro connectivity in urban areas influences home loan repayment behaviour, revealing measurable financial gains for households living along Metro corridors.In Hyderabad, households located in metro-connected pincode areas recorded a 1.7% decline in home loan delinquency and a 1.8% rise in prepayment activity. Loan delinquency refers to a situation in which a borrower fails to make a scheduled loan payment on time, even if the delay is just one day. Such delays can lead to overdue accounts, penalties, adverse credit reporting and, if prolonged, eventual default.The study links the improved repayment patterns to lower dependence on private vehicles and a corresponding reduction in everyday transport expenses. With Metro access replacing costly private commutes, households were able to cut spending on fuel, vehicle maintenance, insurance and loan repayments for two-wheelers and cars. By easing these recurring costs, Metro connectivity appeared to stabilise household cash flows, enabling borrowers to meet EMIs more consistently and, in many cases, repay loans ahead of schedule.To arrive at these conclusions, researchers compared the financial behaviour of home loan borrowers living in Metro-connected and non-connected areas of Hyderabad and Bengaluru. In Hyderabad, data from approximately 1.36 lakh borrowers across both categories of pincodes was analysed. Bengaluru’s assessment covered around 96,000 loan accounts, tracked over a period exceeding one month. The impact was even sharper in Bengaluru, where loan delinquency dropped by 2.4% and prepayment rates climbed by 3.5%.For this analysis, the study combined loan repayment records with data on Metro line openings and vehicle registrations. However, in Hyderabad, transport registration records were excluded because registrations had not been migrated to the central Vahan portal.Financial ripple effectDrawing broader conclusions, the study said: “By demonstrating that Metro expansions lead to lower mortgage delinquency and higher prepayment rates, our analysis emphasises that urban transport infrastructure creates significant financial ripple effects at the household level, which are often overlooked in conventional project appraisal frameworks. These results indicate that Metro systems should not only be seen as mobility or environmental interventions, but also as stabilisers for household balance sheets, with implications for credit markets and systemic risk.“The research also underlined that both Hyderabad and Bengaluru have historically depended heavily on private transport, particularly two-wheelers and entry-level cars, making commute a substantial and recurring drain on household budgets.In Hyderabad’s case, the study highlighted the completion of the Metro red line from Miyapur to LB Nagar in 2018 as a pivotal infrastructure milestone. Stretching 28.1 km and comprising 27 integrated stations, the corridor links densely populated residential neighbourhoods with major employment centres, educational institutions and commercial hubs — a connectivity shift that, the study suggests, has quietly reshaped how households manage their finances.
