less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the Rs8,680 crore Nagpur Metro rail project, the Congress-led DF Government on Friday announced that it would lay foundation stone for the Rs23,136 crore Mumbai Metro-3 project — involving laying underground railway on the 32.5 km Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ railway line route — on August 26.
In a new development in the game of one-upmanship being played by the BJP-led NDA at the Centre and Congress-NCP alliance government in the state ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls scheduled for October this year, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan personally handed over the invitation for the August 26 Mumbai Metro-3 groundbreaking ceremony to Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaih Naidu here in the morning.
Naidu, who was in the metropolis to review the city's first Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar metro project, held a meeting with the chief minister at the state-run Sahydri guest house here. Senior officials of the Urban Development department, their counterparts from the state governments and the MMRDA officials were present at the meeting.
Chavan, who had skipped Thursday's Nagpur Metro rail function fearing booing by audiences at the function presided over by Prime Minister Modi, had earlier called up Naidu at Nagpur and informed the latter about the impending groundbreaking ceremony for Mumbai Metro Rail-3, on August 26.
On his part, Naidu — at Friday's meeting, informed the chief minister that the Union Cabinet would soon give a formal nod to the Pune Metro rail project.
After the already commissioned 11.40 km elevated metro line between Versova and Ghatkopar, the Mumbai Metro-3 is the second mega project on the metro network. It will connect major central business districts of Nariman point and Bandra-Kurla Complex, Domestic and International Airport and industrial areas of MIDC and SEEPZ. It will also link various areas in island city that are not currently served by Suburban Railways like Kalbadevi, Worli, Prabhadevi, Airport area and Andheri (E).
The Congress-led UPA-II government gave in-priniciple approval to the Mumbai Metro-3 project on February 27g 2012, Estimated to cost Rs23,136 crore, the Mumbai Metro receive 57.20 per cent (Rs13,235 crore) funding from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA). The Government of India and Government of Maharashtra-through MMRDA will bear the rest of the cost. The GoI will provide 50 per cent of central taxes as sub-debt while the balance 50 per cent shall be borne by the state government.
The Mumbai Metro-3 project, which will be executed on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) basis, iwill have 27 stations, of which 26 will be underground and one at Aarey Colony, Goregaon, on the ground level. The underground construction will be at a depth of 15-25 metres. The construction of the metro is to be executed in seven packages at 14 locations.