Yogi Adityanath government okays metro projects worth Rs 470 billion

UP Metro Rail Corp to borrow loans worth Rs 240 billion

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has approved three proposed metro rail projects in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut cities at an investment of almost Rs 470 billion.

The required funds would be raised through share equity, debt and borrowings from financial institutions.

The Adityanath cabinet last night put its seal of approval to the three proposed projects by approving the respective Detailed Project Reports (DPR).

The Agra, Kanpur and Meerut metro rail projects would span investment of Rs 139.36 billion, Rs 183.42 billion and Rs 148.90 billion crore respectively totalling over Rs 471 billion. The three metro services are projected to be operational by 2024.

Of the total investment required, about 57 percent would be pooled through raising of long term credit from bilateral/multilateral financial institutions, which would be facilitated by the Centre. The aggregate borrowings for Agra, Kanpur and Meerut metro projects would stand at Rs 71.31 billion, Rs 93.32 billion and Rs 74.26 billion respectively, which totals almost Rs 239 billion.

For smoother and coordinated implementation of the proposed metro projects, the Adityanath government has already decided to set up UP Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) in Lucknow.

Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), which currently operates metro services on the North-South (N-S) Corridor on a 8.5 km priority section from Lucknow Airport to Charbagh Railway Station, had received a credit line of about Rs 35 billion crore from European Investment Bank (EIB). The N-S Corridor measuring 23 km would entail total investment of Rs 68.80 billion and is likely to be completed by April 2019. Another East-West (E-W) corridor measuring 11 km would cost nearly Rs 54.94 billion. Its DPR is being revisited,

Under the existing metro policy, the Centre and the respective states contribute equal share capital, while the remaining funds are sourced through debt and borrowings.

Meanwhile, metro rail services are also proposed in the VIP constituencies of Varanasi and Gorakhpur. While, Varanasi is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gorakhpur is the pocket borough of UP chief minister Adityanath. LMRC and RITES are preparing the DPRs for the twin cities in light of the newly added provisions in the new policy, which was approved by the Centre on August 16, 2017.

Other towns for which metro has been envisaged include Allahabad, Jhansi and Moradabad. Currently, three UP towns have operational metro rail services, including Noida, Lucknow and Ghaziabad.

Last month, ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan, who is principal advisor for metro projects, had said the new metro rail policy stipulated exploring other transport options, including buses, before considering metro projects, which were more costly and time consuming affairs.

He said mini metro rails were most suitable for tier III towns, such as Varanasi and Gorakhpur, since they were cost effective and economical compared to regular or medium sized metros.