Planning to extend Metro line to Vasai and Virar: Fadnavis

“We are planning to extend the Metro line to 300 km and connect Vasai-Virar. We will then become the longest Metro network in the country,” said Fadnavis during a conversation with Loksatta Editor Girish Kuber and Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

| Mumbai | Published: August 8, 2018 2:04:05 am
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BMC Commissioner Ajoy Metha during the Loksatta Real Estate Conclave 2018, in Mumbai on Tuesday. (Express photo by Kevin DSouza)

The state government is planning to extend the Metro line to satellite townships of Vasai and Virar, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said at the Loksatta Real Estate Conclave 2018 on Tuesday. While the proposed Metro line is coming up on a stretch of 276 km, the plan is to extend it to 300 km, he added.

“We are planning to extend the Metro line to 300 km and connect Vasai-Virar. We will then become the longest Metro network in the country,” said Fadnavis during a conversation with Loksatta Editor Girish Kuber and Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

The chief minister was confident that the new Development Plan (DP) 2034 will transform the city completely. “Mumbai is not a dying city, it is a dynamic city,” he said, adding that the DP will come into force in September. The new DP was a collective wisdom of all stakeholders and any errors in it will be corrected soon, he maintained.

Fadnavis said that after the general body submitted its draft DP, the state government has made only 14 changes to it. The new DP was framed with a vision to create 10 lakh affordable houses and 80 lakh jobs in the city. To aid this, it has made provisions for extra Floor Space Index (FSI) for construction of commercial spaces and opened up salt pan lands to make way for affordable housing projects.

Mehta said that around 32 lakh families are residing in Mumbai at present and among them, while 18 lakh will be able to get free accommodation through government schemes, around 4.5 lakh can buy houses with their own incomes and the remaining 10 lakh will have the option of going for affordable housing.

Fadnavis said that in the 2,100 hectare land opened up for construction in the no-development zones, only those developers constructing affordable housing will be eligible for extra FSI on their saleable components.