Modi govt decides to put off Metro project in state capital in view of inadequate traffic.
For now, the multi-thousand crore metro rail project seems to going round in circles only, and that too only on paper! For the routes finalised earlier are being redrawn and going by highly-placed sources in the Narendra Modi government, the MEGA project will not roll into Gandhinagar in the first phase.
The state government had formed Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar & Ahmedabad (MEGA), a special purpose vehicle to execute the metro rail project between the two cities, in February 2010.
“The first phase of Metro rail project will be limited to Ahmedabad,” a senior government official privy to the development, told dna. The metro will be extended to Gandhinagar only after Ahmedabad is extensively covered by it, i.e., in the second phase of the project, he said.
Confirming the move, another official said that the state government has decided to instead focus on building “a world-class metro project” in Ahmedabad. In addition to the huge cost of the metro rail project, which is estimated at Rs19,000 crore, it is mainly concerns over traffic availability, that has led to the decision.
“Studies show that barring the hour or hour-and-a-half in mornings and evenings, adequate traffic will not be available for metro between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. In this situation, it doesn’t make economic sense to invest thousands of crores to extend the project to Gandhinagar,” said an official.
Another official said that metro rail isn’t required between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar as of now, and “It is also not economically viable.”
The project will cost around Rs200 crore per km for the elevated corridor, and around Rs500 crore for the underground portion.
As per the earlier plan, a total rail network of 82 km was planned covering Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar and also connecting them. A total of 53 stations, including 42 elevated and 11 underground, were planned. However, these could change with the government also deciding to redraw the routes.
“The routes that were finalised earlier are also being examined. Consultations are being initiated to decide the new routes. The routes will be finalised based on traffic demand. It will be the sole criteria,” said an official.
Even though the project is still on the drawing board so to speak, officials are confident of being able to meet the original deadline of October 2018.
“October 2018 continues to be deadline for commencement of operations. We are going ahead with the project in a systematic and steady manner and are confident of timely completion of the project,” an official said.
After forming MEGA, the government had appointed ex-IAS Sanjay Gupta, who runs the Cambay chain of hotels, as its executive chairman in April 2011. However, Gupta had resigned in August 2013 to focus more on his own ventures. Following this, the government appointed two retired IAS, Manjula Subramaniam and IP Gautam, as chairman and vice chairman respectively, and serving bureaucrat Vijay Nehra as CEO of MEGA.
Officials said that financing model of the metro project has not been finalised yet. However, financial closure for the first phase of the project has been achieved.
Route matters
Officials say the project will be extended to the state capital only after Ahmedabad is extensively covered.
The metro rail routes finalised in Ahmedabad earlier will also be redrawn based on traffic demand
The ambitious project is estimated to cost Rs19,000 crore; first phase is scheduled to be completed by October 2018.
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