Metro on hold due to non-clearance from govt
Gandhinagar – The nodal agency for the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro rail project, MEGA (Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad) has still not utilized the budget provided last year.
The nodal agency was provided an amount of Rs 500 crore. It has been ten months of the allocation and the rail project is facing extreme delays and cost escalations. So far a small amount (less than five percent) has only been used for certain miscellaneous expenditures. This project in Gandhinagar is yet not started at field level.
According to the official sources the agency could not utilise the given amount because of non-clearance from the state government. The sources also informed that the essential meetings led by the high powered committee ministers were also not held regularly. The green signal from the chief minister was just given before the election time which resulted in no clearances despite of having funds.
Sources also informed that the cost of first phase of the metro project is revised (around Rs 6000 crore ). It is expected that this phase will complete in three and a half year. The Phase I consists of three lines, APMC – Akshardham, Paldi – Civil hospital and Jamalpur – Civil Hospital. The third line is planned underground which consists of six stations.
The state government will provide Rs 3,000 crore while the remaining half will be granted by banking institutions on debt. Among the total government share, chief secretary-led secretaries’ committee agreed to give 33% by six state public sector enterprises. But government has still not given a final nod in this regard.
Sources expect that an amount of Rs 2,000 crore is likely to be funded by the government in the forthcoming budget. This fund will add more fuel to speed up the project. Currently, MEGA is under the process of finalizing contractors for construction of underground stations and tunnels.
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Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar metro rail project, Gandhinagar, MEGA, Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad
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