The Delhi government has set aside Rs 500 crore for construction of Metro Phase IV in its annual Budget. (Representational)The Delhi government has set aside Rs 500 crore for construction of Metro Phase IV in its annual Budget, two months after it cleared the project following a prolonged delay over fear of losses. The Centre is yet to clear the Rs 46,845-crore project, under which six new corridors measuring over 104 km are supposed to come up.
Referring to the Centre’s pending approval, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said it was a “matter of disappointment”. Gahlot also said it “exposes the double standards” of the Centre, which was pushing Delhi to approve the project.
Including the allocation for Metro, the government allotted Rs 1,807 crore for various transport schemes, programmes and projects. Last year, the allocation for the same was around Rs 977 crore.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the government is determined to procure 4,000 buses in 2019-20. It had announced that 3,000 buses will be procured in its last Budget, but failed tenders and litigation by disability rights activists against the move to buy standard-floor buses had grounded the proposals.
Rs 150 crore has been set aside for construction of bus depots and terminals and Rs 50 crore for 1,397 bus shelters. “Our government has formulated a draft e-vehicle policy to promote the use of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) in Delhi. Under this, our efforts will be to have 25% share of BEVs in new registered vehicles by 2024. I am proposing Rs 100 crore for constituting the State Electric Vehicle Fund in 2019-20,” Sisodia said.
