A third Metro line for Pune has been put on the fast track with the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) receiving budgetary allocations from the Maharashtra government. While Maha Metro, a state government JV, is executing the first two Metro rail lines, the proposed third line connecting the Hinjewadi IT-BT hub to Pune city is being executed by the PMRDA. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is preparing the detailed project report of the third Metro route.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday approved the annual budget of PMRDA and allocated funds for the Metro and also cleared funding for the long-pending ring road project in Pune. Fadnavis said the PMRDA will be looking at building the third Metro line in a PPP mode on design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis.

Of the R800-crore PMRDA budget, a major chunk of R451 crore is allocated for the third line connecting Shivajinagar with Hinjewadi and covering a length of 23.3 km. The total allocation for this project is R451 crore for the preliminary work.

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Pune Metropolitan area will also get a ring road around the city for which the PMRDA has got R146 crore. This ring road will be part of the critical economic corridor of the region, Fadnavis said. The CM said on completion this ring road will be among the best such projects to showcase to the country. It will prove a catalyst in further industrialisation of the region, the CM said.

PMRDA chief Mahesh Zagade who presented the ring road plan said it will have a length of 128-km ring road with eight lanes and will circle Pune and the Pimpri Chinchwad areas. The proposed ring road will be completely free of signals and have a width of 110 metre, Zagade said.

Fadnavis chaired the meeting along with Pune’s guardian minister Girish Bapat, MLA Madhuri Misal and newly elected mayor of Pune Mukta Tilak and PCMC mayor Nitin Kalaje.