Commonwealth Games may delay Gurgaon metro

The Delhi-Gurgaon Metro Rail project may hit a roadblock owing to the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in October 2010.

An inter-ministerial group (IMG) led by Planning Commission member secretary Rajiv Ratna Shah, in a presentation before the Cabinet secretary, has said the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line would be the top priority since the line passes through the Games venues.

Senior official sources said: "The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation would first complete the Delhi segment in Phase-II by 2010 and the Gurgaon stretch can only be taken up after the completion of the Badarpur link."

The Gurgaon extension was expected to be completed by 2010 at a cost of Rs 1,422 crore, of which the Delhi segment was pegged at Rs 734 crore and Rs 688 crore was lined up for the Haryana end.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, in its presentation before the Cabinet secretary, said the detailed project report for the 20 km Badarpur line was being finalised.

But if the project was not cleared soon, there was a possibility that two of the venues "" Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Karni Singh Shooting Range would not be available for the Commonwealth Games.

Looking forward to the Games, the Cabinet secretariat is expected to clear the project soon. The 20-km stretch between Central Secretariat and Badarpur consists of 14.4 km elevated rail and 5.6 km underground network with 15 stations (three of them underground). The completion cost is estimated at Rs 3731 crore.

At the same time, the IMG is pushing for the high speed "airport express link" connecting the New Delhi railway station to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, before the Games.

DMRC Chairman E Shreedharan was learnt to have been apprehensive about whether the stretch could be completed by September 2010, just before the Games.

The link line may have check-in counters for domestic and international passengers at the Connaught Place end.