The Delhi Metro received a whopping eight times jump in the Interim Budget of 2019-20 with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs granting Rs 414.70 crore in its kitty as against Rs 50 crore in the last fiscal year.
While the Centre is likely to clear the decks to start Phase IV of the Delhi Metro this year, after it was given a go-ahead by the Delhi government in December 2018, sources in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said the money has been sanctioned for the expansion of Metro services in Noida and Ghaziabad.
The development has left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government, which has been at loggerheads with the Centre over Phase IV, visibly miffed. The AAP, on Saturday, alleged that the Centre has meted out "stepmotherly treatment" to Delhi in the Budget, claiming that the Narendra Modi government has made "no provision" for the Metro's Phase IV project. In a press conference, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said AAP MPs will be raising the issue in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
"The MHUA earlier made a lot of noise about the Phase-IV project but, the Budget came as a surprise for us. The Phase-IV work, which requires funds, has been neglected in it," Sisodia further said.
Both the governments have been sparring over the cost of the project and operational losses that can go up to Rs 45,000 crore. The Delhi government, recently, announced that it will pay an amount of Rs 9,707 crore towards Phase IV. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier asked the ministry to have an equal share in the operational loss of Phase IV; a condition not agreeable to the Centre.