 "DMRC has done good job in Delhi, but not as good in NCR cities: Official")
Delhi Metro has done a "good job" in providing connectivity in the national capital, but "probably not as good" in the NCR cities such as Gurugram and Noida where people still face transport problems, a top official in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said on Wednesday.
During his address at the 29th Foundation Day of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation at the Metro Bhawan here, Secretary, MoHUA, Manoj Joshi, also said that the DMRC can explore evolving a system where "proper source of funding" for it can be worked on.
He, however, did not elaborate on it.
Joshi, who is also the chairman of the DMRC, praised the urban transporter and said, it has "established new standards" in the domain of public transport, and is a matter of pride.
The last three years have been very difficult for the DMRC, as it faced restrictions due to the Covid pandemic and an arbitration case.
The DMRC, from a very healthy organisation which was repaying all its loans, making operational profits, went to a difficult position with challenges as the ridership has come down, which has now reached 90 per cent of the pre-Covid level, Joshi said.
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After the pandemic, change has happened the way people work, and ridership has been vanishing across the country, the Union secretary in MoHUA said.
Speaking on the occasion, DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar said that the Delhi Metro has responded to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic with "agility and resilience" and the current ridership stands at around 90 per cent of the pre-Covid level.
During his address, Kumar also said the DMRC has "scaled many new frontiers" despite hurdles.
A senior official said that the pre-pandemic ridership stood at 60-65 lakh, which has now reached around 50-55 lakh.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was incorporated on May 3, 1995 and the first groundbreaking ceremony for construction to begin took place on October 1, 1998.
From humble beginning of its operations in December 2002 with a corridor of just 8.2 km spanning six stations on the Red Line, the Delhi Metro has grown into a network of 391 km with 286 stations.
Joshi underlined that Delhi's population is growing, and suburban cities' population is also growing.
"Within Delhi, the DMRC has done a good job of providing connectivity. In the NCR (National Capital Region), say in Gurugram or Noida, the performance is "good, but probably not as good" as people do find connectivity issues in the NCR," he said.
In NCR, major cities include Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, and metro has linked these four cities with Delhi in the last one decade or so.
"The reason, perhaps is the way settlement pattern has happened. A large number of car-owning people live in the NCR, and they prefer to travel by cars, and that leads to traffic in streets," Joshi said, and asked ways to address this issue.
In his address, he also suggested that one can explore going into areas where settlement has not taken place and where foraying of the metro can further lead to development.
"Probably, we need to develop newer forms of taxation for the development on these lines, for future growth," he said.
Joshi also said that one needs to be careful in constructing new lines and explore developing alternative sources of revenues and funding.
"We need to develop proper taxation-based funding system," he said, but did not elaborate on it.
The funding of the DMRC comes from the Delhi government and the Centre. The DMRC can discuss with Central and Delhi governments and evolve systems where a proper source of funding, both for capital projects and operational losses, can be worked on, the senior official said.
The DMRC is a 50:50 joint venture between the Centre and the Delhi government.
Joshi lauded the DMRC for its growing role as a consultant globally.
The DMRC is on a threshold, and it "can now shift into the next gear" and establish itself as player and grow beyond Delhi and construction deadlines, and it has "the capacity to shift gear and go to a higher pedestal", the MoHUA secretary said.
Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in his address said the journey of the DMRC has been "very tough" but it has done a "tremendous job as a global company".
He cited figures that the DMRC network has brought about 4.7 lakh vehicles off road, and thus helped in mitigating pollution too.
He also praised the Delhi Metro and said it is "better than Paris Metro".
The Delhi chief secretary said perhaps, now the time has come for the DMRC to become a "complete solution" for transport services on a global level.
He also suggested exploring hiring young engineers and business school graduates from the best colleges in India and abroad.
The chief secretary also said there was a need to focus on the last-mile connectivity, and on a first-come-first-serve basis, space can be made available to set up kiosks for agencies providing two-wheelers or e-bikes.
On the Delhi Metro's Phase-IV project, he said, "Whatever support is needed from our side, we will be more than happy to work with you so that Phase-IV is completed not only on time, but, if possible before time also."
He also suggested exploring the possibility of developing an ecosystem whereby the DMRC can become a "manufacturing hub" for metro coaches and other products for the entire world.
The Delhi government will extend all possible cooperation so that the DMRC is able to perform much better, the chief secretary added.