Estimated cost Rs 6,758 crore, second phase of Metro rail project will connect city to Gandhinagar and GIFT City
The second phase of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail project, which will connect Ahmedabad with Gandhinagar, is likely to be approved soon, a senior official of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said on Saturday.
"Approval for the second phase of the Ahmedabad Metro project is under government's active consideration and it should be approved soon," said Durga Shanker Mishra, secretary of the ministry, at a session on 'Mobility-led Urban Development', on the second day of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, 2019.
The cost of phase 2 of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail project, which will connect Ahmedabad with Gandhinagar and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), is estimated at Rs6,758 crore. The 34.6 kilometre-long-stretch will have 24 stations, all of them elevated.
The development comes even as the first phase of the Ahmedabad Metro rail project is expected to be ready for regular run on the Apparel Park to Vastral stretch by the first week of March, the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) said on Wednesday.
The first three coaches or train-set, which arrived in Ahmedabad on January 1, are undergoing various checks and trials, while the second train-set is expected to arrive by February 7. The cost of phase 1 of the project is estimated at Rs10,773 crore.
"Ahmedabad will become the 11th city (in India) to have Metro. In the next one-and-a-half years, the entire project will become operational," Mishra said at the summit.
The senior IAS officer further said that Metro rail projects are transformational, and their role is not limited to improving mobility alone.
"Metro project changes a city's perception. These things matter a lot as far as investors are concerned," he said.
The state government had approved phase 2 of the Ahmedabad Metro project in October 2017. It will extend from Motera to Mahatma Mandir. The state government has also proposed a separate line from Gujarat National Law University linking the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) and GIFT City to the country's first and only international financial services centre.
In his address at the session, Mukesh Puri, principal secretary of state's urban development department, spoke about various initiatives being taken by the government to boot planned growth, and to improve mobility.
IN A NUTSHELL
- The 34.6-km-long stretch of Metro rail will have 24 stations, all of them elevated
- The state government had approved phase 2 of the Ahmedabad Metro project in October 2017. It will extend from Motera to Mahatma Mandir
- Ahmedabad will become the 11th city in country to have Metro
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