Ahead of the coming Lok Sabha polls, the Narendra Modi Government on Thursday approved three corridors of the phase IV of Delhi Metro.
The Government approved Metro corridor from Aerocity to Tughlakabad, Janakpuri West to RK Ashram, and Mukundpur to Maujpur.
The total length of these three corridors is 61.679 km. Out of the total 61.679 km, 22.359 km will be underground and 39.320 km will be elevated.
The phase IV project of the Delhi Metro has six corridors which will connect the far-fetched areas of the capital and will ease long journeys for regular Metro passengers.
According to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), these corridors will consist of 46 stations, of which 17 stations will be underground and the rest 29 stations will be constructed as elevated sections.
The total completion cost of the three Metro corridors will be `24,948.65 crore. The project will be implemented by Delhi Metro on the basis of the existing 50:50 Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Central Government and the Delhi Government.
“The three corridors have been chosen as they have higher ridership and are extremely essential to address the congestion and pollution issues,” the Ministry said.
Reacting on the Union Cabinet decision, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that people of Delhi are very disappointed that the Centre has decided to approve only 3 of the 6 corridors. “Why is the Modi Government so much against the people of Delhi? Why does the Modi Government create obstacles in every project?” Kejriwal said.
The three proposed corridors not yet approved are: Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.
Sources said the Finance Ministry has approved the three corridors with riders that operational losses will be borne by Delhi Metro. If it fails to do so, the State Government will have to bear the losses.
The Central Government has assigned the task of bearing the operating losses on the State Government along with repayment of the loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the report said.
The Delhi Government had given the approval for the 103.93 km network line of Phase IV, after a delay of over two years in December 2018. The construction work on the line was supposed to begin from January, 2019, and expected to complete by December 31, 2024. The estimated cost of the six corridors in Phase IV is around Rs 46,845 crore.
