Suburban railway-related projects under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) have received a proposed budgetary allocation of ₹555 crore for the financial year 2020-21. The Railway Board on Wednesday released its proposed allocations to railway-related works and projects across the country including for works being undertaken by Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is executing the MUTP projects.
The Railway Board has provided an allocation of ₹200 crore for MUTP 2, which includes three key projects — the fifth-sixth line between Thane and Diva, the fifth-sixth line between Kurla and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and the sixth line between Mumbai Central and Borivali. The long-pending Thane-Diva line is expected to be commissioned later this year, railway officials said. Altogether ₹5 crore has been allocated for a few pending works related to the project to make the Harbour Line compatible for 12-coach trains.
MUTP 3 picks up pace
The ₹10,947 crore MUTP 3 has received an allocation of ₹300 crore for the next fiscal, up from ₹283.78 crore in 2019-20. The project includes the construction of two key corridors — Virar-Dahanu quadrupling and a new corridor between Karjat and Panvel, for which land acquisition is under way. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank had approved a loan of $500 million last year for the same project.
The ₹33,690-crore MUTP 3A has received an allocation for ₹50 crore, with the MRVC working to appoint the general consultants for the communication based train control, a state-of-the-art signalling system, later this year.
The second phase of the Seawoods-Belapur-Uran line has received ₹100 crore, among the major allocations received for CR. The first phase of the corridor between Nerul and Kharkopar was inaugurated in November 2018.
The other major allocations went to the third line between Karjat and Kasara and the proposed coach manufacturing unit in Latur, both receiving ₹55 crore for the next fiscal year. Two key road over bridges at Vikhroli and Diva have received an allocation of ₹3 crore and ₹7 crore respectively. The proposed coaching complex at Panvel Kalamboli, which will serve several Konkan Railway trains, has received ₹8 crore, while a token allocation of ₹1,000 has been made towards converting CSMT into a world-class museum.
A new terminal at Jogeshwari station has been allocated ₹1 crore in 2020-2021. The project to reduce the travel time between Mumbai and Delhi has received a token allocation of ₹1,000, and the final estimates are being worked out. The project is expected to cost around ₹11,000 crore and is proposed to be financed through external sources. The ₹12-crore project towards the heritage restoration of Bandra station has received ₹4.24 crore. Tenders for the project had been called last year, after the consultancy report was approved, and work is expected to start this year.