Delhi Metro Phase IV: Project Approved Again After Periodic Cost Revisions; Cabinet Clearance Now Awaited

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) board has re-approved Delhi Metro’s Phase IV line, and it is awaiting approval from Delhi cabinet, reports Financial Express.

The planned time for completion of the project is five years. It will connect the outer parts of Delhi and will potentially reduce traffic and pollution.

Re-validation of the project was mandated as the estimate was revised twice from Rs 55,208 crore to Rs 45,603 crore recently and further revised to about Rs 46,800 crore. The 2014 estimates were based on the earlier tax regime, and when GST was taken into account, Rs 10,000 crore was reduced from the budget.

The cost has gone up in Delhi Metro as the board failed to factor in metro coach requirement on certain stretches, and total track-laying costs.

Further, the change in loan component has led to re-validation of the project. The proportion of loan obtained from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has dropped 43 per cent. It was 60 per cent during Phase I and 54 per cent in Phase II and 51 per cent in Phase III.

The Green Line is Phase IV

Phase IV is 104-km-long and has six corridors, Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor, Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block corridor, Inderlok-Indraprastha corridor, Tughlakabad-Delhi Aerocity corridor, Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor and Rithala-Narela corridor.