Infranirbhar Webinar Series (Video): Hardeep Singh Puri Speaks On The Vision For India’s Metro Rail System  

India's Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri, laid out his vision for India’s expanding metro rail system, as he addressed a webinar on Indian Infrastructure, part of a webinar series called 'Infranirbhar Bharat' organised by Swarajya Magazine in association with Construction World, India’s premier and largest circulated construction business magazine.

Addressing the webinar, the minister underlined the need for improved connectivity in India’s expanding urban centres and highlighted the progress made in the development of metros over the last six years, under the Narendra Modi government. India’s cities are witnessing exponential growth and an increase in the use of personal vehicles, resulting in severe traffic congestion and pollution, Minister Puri said, adding, efforts to remedy this situation need to focus on improving our public transport system, the most sustainable of which is the metro rail.

“Till 2014, only about 248 kilometres metro network was operational in five cities. With a consistent push by the government, the metro network has expanded by more than 469 km, and today a total of 717 km of metro is operational in 18 cities,” the Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs noted.

Over the next few years, India will expand this metro network to around 1,000 km by the 75th year of India’s Independence, in 2022, the minister said. At least 25 Indian cities will have a total metro network of 1,700 km by 2025, he noted. “Under the metro rail policy, our focus is to develop an inclusive system together with multimodal integration and last mile connectivity,” the minister said.