Big connectivity boost: Metro rail projects on in 15 cities, says HS Puri.

Over 664 km of metro rail projects in 15 cities are currently under various stages of implementation, while more than 515 km of metro lines are already operational in India, minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said.

In an interaction with the members of the consultative committee attached to the ministry, Puri informed them that many states are aspiring to have metro rail systems and the state governments have been advised to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) in line with the provisions in the Metro Rail Policy 2017 and submit it, a government release said.

“The policy bridges the gap for ascertaining and enhancing the feasibility of metro rail projects from economic, social and environmental perspective.

This aims to focus on systematic planning and implementation of metro rail systems and act as a guide to state governments for preparing comprehensive proposals for metro rail projects”, the release quoted the minister as saying.

The metro rail policy also enables greater private participation and innovative financing through transit oriented development and value capture finance, he said.

The government provides financial support for metro rail projects in the form of grant to the states up to 10% of project cost or in the form 50:50 equity sharing with state governments or viability gap funding to the extent of 20% of the capital cost of public transport projects under PPP model. Puri said that the ministry has released funds to various metro rail projects to the tune of Rs. 9,286.09 in 2015-16, Rs. 15,298.61 in 2016-17, Rs. 13,956.23 in 2017-18 and Rs. 7,481.28 in 2018-19 (up to September 30, 2018).

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS