More than ₹31k crore spent on construction of Metro in MMR: Survey

More than ₹31,916 crore has been spent since 2016 in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) for the construction of 10 Metro corridors of around 180km, revealed Maharashtra Economic Survey for 2021

Mumbai More than ₹31,916 crore has been spent since 2016 in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) for the construction of 10 Metro corridors of around 180km, revealed the Maharashtra Economic Survey for 2021-22.

Subsequently, the survey also suggested that the corridors will be ready by 2024, which essentially means MMR will have nearly 200km of metro connectivity (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Subsequently, the survey also suggested that the corridors will be ready by 2024, which essentially means MMR will have nearly 200km of metro connectivity.

Overall, an amount of ₹98,724 crore will be spent on the construction, which will have a capacity to carry around five million commuters every day. As of January 2022, over ₹31,916 crore has been spent, around 31% of the total expected expenditure.

The maximum expenditure is towards the construction of three Metro corridors, including the 32-km-long Colaba-Seepz Metro-3, Dahisar-Andheri Metro-2A and Dahisar East Andheri East Metro-7 corridor.

The project cost expected for Metro-3 is ₹33,406 crore, of which ₹19,967 crore has been spent till now. The Metro-3 is the most controversial project in MMR that was expected to get fully operational by the end of 2022 but is stuck due to a lack of clarity on the construction of the Metro car depot. Owing to this, the Metro-3 corridor is unlikely to be operational any time before the end of 2024.

The second highest expenditure of ₹3,816 crore was for Metro-2A, for which the project cost expected is ₹6,410 crore. The third highest expenditure was on Metro-7 corridor, of which ₹3,017 crore is spent and the project cost expected is ₹6,208 crore. Further, the remaining amount was spent towards the construction of other Metro corridors connecting Mumbai with Thane, Bhiwandi, Mira Road and Bhayander.

The city is expected to get two Metro corridors in 2022 that includes Metro-2A and Metro-7 corridor. The first phase of both the Metro corridors is expected to get operational in the next two months, and the entire corridor is expected to get operational by October 2022, according to MMRDA officials.

Metropolitan commissioner SVR Srinivas had earlier told HT, “2022 is going to be the year of outcomes and results. The city will get two Metro corridors namely Metro-2A and Metro-7 this year. Further, next in 2023, the target is to open up DN Nagar to Mandale Metro-2B and Lokhandwala to Vikhroli Metro-6 corridor.”

The Maharashtra government aims to create a 337.10-km Metro network at a cost of ₹1,40,814 crore. The state economic survey also talks about over ₹17,000 crore spent on the construction of several Metro corridors in Navi Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

Meanwhile, in terms of expenditure on other Mumbai centric infrastructure projects, the state economic survey has highlighted expenditure of another over ₹54,000 crore on construction of projects like Mumbai Coastal Road project, Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, Bandra-Versova Sea - Link, Mumbai Nagpur Expressway and Mumbai Pune Expressway augmentation.