After the state government confirmed the third metro line as a ‘vital important urban transport project’ on July 18. On September 18, the ministry of housing and urban affairs has given the green signal for the third metro line from Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar and published the proposal in the center’s Gazette.
The 23.3km-metro line will have 23 stations and will ease travel in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), PMRDA Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation and Pune Municipal Corporation areas. This is the third metro line to be managed by Maha Metro.
PMRDA has completed the tendering process and Tata -Siemens Company has won the tender to implement the project as a joint venture and is waiting for the final clearances from the state government for going into an agreement with the PMRDA.
The project, set to cost Rs 8,313 crore, is targeted at addressing the traffic woes faced by the approximately 2 lakh IT professionals, who work in Hinjewadi. This will also be the first project in the country executed under the Metro policy of 2017, which aims to minimize the financial burden on the center.
The central government has allotted Rs1, 200 crores, while the state will provide Rs800 crore in the form of land banks. The remaining has to be generated by the auction-goer by monetizing the land banks. Just as with the Public-Private Partnership model (PPP), the center and the state will account for 20% each of the project cost.
