A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday by the Governments of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh for the formation of Greater Chandigarh Transport Corporation (GCTC) for implementation of ambitious Tricity Metro project.
After a delay of more than two years, the MoU was signed on Thursday in the presence of Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, who is also the Governor of Punjab and the UT Administrator.
The GCTC will be formed for the development of comprehensive integrated multi-modal urban and sub-urban commuter system for the region comprising Union Territory of Chandigarh (UTC) and its surrounding areas in the States of Haryana and Punjab, said an official spokesperson.
The initial equity of GCTC would be `100 crore which would be equally contributed i.e. 25 per cent each, by Union Ministry of Urban Development, (MoUD) Chandigarh Administration, Haryana Government and Punjab Government.
The transport projects in the region will be implemented by GCTC. The Board of Directors of GCTC shall have three representatives from MoUD and two each from UT Administration, Punjab and Haryana. The Secretary, MoUD will be the ex-officio chairman of the corporation. The full time Managing Director of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Central Government in consultation with Board of Directors of GCTC, said the spokesperson.
He added, “The Corporation will undertake various studies and projects for the development of public transport service in the region and shall also get the projects implemented and undertake operations and maintenance with the option to implement the projects through public-private partnership.”
While signing the MoU, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Town and Country Planning Department, P Raghavendra Rao, Punjab Secretary Town and Planning, A Venu Prasad and Vijay Dev, Adviser to UT Administrator were also present.
Notably, the MoUD had in 2013 asked the three Governments to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) during a high-level meeting held in New Delhi for the tricity metro project. The ambitious tricity metro project proposes to link Chandigarh with satellite townships of Panchkula and Mohali. Under the project, a total of 37.573 km metro rail project has been proposed including 23.468 km elevated and 14.105 km underground in the first phase having two metro corridors namely north-south corridor and east-west corridor.
The total project cost of the metro will be Rs 10900 crore in the first phase. It includes development of metro project in Chandigarh portion costing `8245 crore, `1427 crore in Punjab portion and `1228 crore in Haryana portion.