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Centre supports PPP model for Delhi Metro, says Union housing minister
The new operation model could help the metro operator tide over financial constraints, particularly the issue over whether the Delhi or the Union government will fund the next round of expansion.
The central government will support Delhi Metro Rail Corporation if it decides to rope in private players to operate parts of the network, Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.
“There is no other model and the central government is doing it everywhere. We have done it in Hyderabad,” Puri said, referring to DMRC’s suggestion that the network’s phase IV operations be run in public private partnership (PPP).
Puri was speaking at the launch of metro’s Pink Line, a corridor that is part of the phase III expansion.
The new operation model could help the metro operator tide over financial constraints, particularly the issue over whether the Delhi or the Union government will fund the next round of expansion.
Under the DMRC proposal, tracks would be laid by the corporation and coaches will be procured by a firm selected through a bidding process. A private company would then run the trains in exchange for payment.
“If there was problem in any individual model, it is a different issue but PPP is the standard model,” Puri said, on being asked about the PPP model failing in the airport line of Delhi metro.
The Delhi government too supports a PPP model, saying some routes may not be financially viable.
The 104-kilometre network proposed in Phase 4 is expected to add 1.5 million passengers to the Metro daily. It will benefit residents of south Delhi, giving them the option of taking the Metro to the airport and other neighbourhoods.
The project has been pending approval for nearly three years, with the files seemingly stuck with the Delhi government. Work was to begin in 2016 and be completed by 2021.
