Rajasthan CM says Jaipur Metro project was a ‘financially unwise decision’
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said during her Budget speech in the House on Monday that the much-touted Jaipur Metro rail project was “financially unwise decision.” She also resented that her government will have to run the Metro.
The remarks by Raje have come nearly a month ahead of the scheduled opening of the first leg of the 12km Metro corridor to the public next month.
In substantiation of her remarks, Raje said that the previous government – headed by her predecessor Ashok Gehlot – had allocated an amount of over Rs 3,000 crore for a stretch of barely 12 km of Metro rail. Raje said that, so far as the financial aspect of the Metro decision is concerned, bringing a Metro project to Jaipur was not a good decision.
Raje also said that her government has agreed to complete Phase 1 B of the Jaipur Metro project because leaving it unfinished would only result in further operational losses.
Asserting that experts are of the opinion that the Jaipur Metro project was “implemented in haste,” Raje said: “We could have made 110 road over bridges and 5,000 km of roads across the state. In addition to run the metro, the state will incur losses of at least Rs 60-80 crore per year.”
Source – The Financial Express
