Will metro train project be put back on track?

Tier-II and tier-III cities of the country like Lucknow, Jaipur, Kochi, Kanpur and others will get metro trains soon, but the prospects of one in Ahmedabad is not clear at the moment.

This is despite the fact that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), which is providing consultancy for all metro projects in the country, is keen to help Gujarat develop one between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.

"There is no problem for a metro train project in Ahmedabad, but it has hit mental block of the state government. A few months back, the state floated a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for it, which is not doing anything new," said the managing director of DMRC, E Sreedharan.

According to him, the state government is focusing more on Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). "As the government is more interested in the BRTS project in Ahmedabad, it has sidelined the metro train project," said Sreedharan, adding that mass transportation projects were getting delayed as the government has neither been able to start BRTS nor the metro project.

Sreedharan stated that he has told the state chief minister Narendra Modi to speed up the metro rail project for the city. "He agreed to it and said that he will appoint a fresh committee for it, so that the project between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar could be speeded up," he said.

Talking about metro projects across the country, Sreedharan said that India needed 250 to 300 metro coaches every year. "So far, Rs85,000 crore has been invested in metro rail projects in the country, and in coming ten years the country will need to invest another Rs1,00,000 crore for the upcoming projects," he said.