Gujarat: Union Government Gives Nod To The Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro Phase-II

The Central Government has given its stamp of approval to the second phase of Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad metro in Gujarat which will connect the political and administrative capital of the state with its financial capital.

The second phase would be connecting Motera to Gandhinagar with the tracks starting from where the North-South corridor (APMC-Vasna to Motera) ends. The project is estimated to cost around Rs 5,523 crore as reported by Times of India.

According to sources in the government, a meeting which took place between Public Investment Board (PIB) and the Metro Authorities took up all Metro projects including those in Patna, Agra, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and the RRTS between Delhi and Meerut.

Since the Central government has equity in all metro projects executed by entities like Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)- with 50-50 partnership between the union and the state government- PIB approval is mandatory.

“In order to achieve the maximum benefit, the DPR made in 2014 for Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-I projected that connectivity to Gandhinagar would be provided from the North-South corridor of Phase-I. Accordingly, the 2017 DPR has been prepared for Phase-II, which will connect Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar,” said an officer.

A formal announcement is likely to be made when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the 6 km stretch of the Metro from Vastral Gam to Apparel Park in the second week of March.