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Centre likely to approve Gujarat’s first metro line today
Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state is all set to get its first metro project.
Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state is all set to get its first metro project.
The Union cabinet is likely to approve the first phase of the Rs 10,675 crore Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro project on Wednesday. The 35.3 km line would include a 28.2 km elevated and a 7 km underground section. It will have 32 stations. There will be two corridors in the first phase — one in the north-south direction between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad and the second in the east-west direction between Thaltej to Vastral.
The Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro has been in the works for a while now. In 2010, a Special Purpose Vehicle — Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Limited was constituted to implement the project.
The Centre had earlier rejected the detailed project report (DPR) for the line prepared by the state government. Last year a fresh DPR was prepared by MEGA which
was approved by the Union urban development ministry.
It was only recently that the finance ministry gave its go ahead to the project.
Earlier in July, finance minister Arun Jaitley in the 2014-15 budget had also announced allocation of Rs 100 crore for the Ahmedabad metro. Sources said that multilateral agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency has agreed to provide a long-term loan of Rs 5,900 crore for the first phase.
