india

Updated: Feb 24, 2019 10:42 IST

The Centre may give cabinet nod for key metro rail projects in Agra and Kanpur before Election Commission of India’s model code of conduct for the assembly polls kicks in, an official aware of the development said.

The Uttar Pradesh budget for the financial year 2019-20 has set aside an amount of Rs 1.75 billion for each of the two projects that were first announced by UP state chief minister Yogi Adityanath in December 2017.

This is the first metro rail project for both, Agra and Kanpur. The metro currently operates only in Lucknow in the country’s most populous state.

A provision of Rs 1.5 billion for preliminary works on Varanasi, Meerut, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj and Jhansi Metro Rail projects was also announced in the state budget.

“The Public Investment Board (PIB) note for the Kanpur and Agra metro rail is being prepared and will be sent for cabinet approval soon. Projects for Lucknow are also in the pipeline,” a senior official at the ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said, requesting anonymity.

The development was confirmed by another ministry official.

The first phase of the Lucknow metro became operational in September 2017 and was built at an estimated cost of ₹69.28 billion.

In the 2019-20 interim budget, the union government allocated an amount of Rs 190 billion for Mass Rapid Transit System and metro projects — an increase of 22% over the previous budget (revised estimate), which stood at Rs 156 billion. At present, about 585 km of metro rail lines are operational in 10 cities, including Delhi & NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Gurugram. Another 287 km of metro rail line construction are underway in nine cities after being commissioned in May 2014, according to the ministry.

“Approximately 60 km of metro lines are likely to be opened in the next one month in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Nagpur and Ghaziabad,” the official said.

Besides these, 15 new metro projects (397 km) at an estimated cost of Rs 1036.79 billion have been approved for Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Gurugram, Delhi-Meerut and Pune. On Tuesday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave the approval for Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-II and the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut semi-high speed rail corridor.