Joy after very long wait as city Metro gets Cabinet green light

Gurgaon/New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the Rs 5,452-crore Gurgaon Metro line, a 28.5km corridor between Huda City Centre and Cyber City that will become the mainstay of the city’s future transportation grid.
The corridor – a loop that connects not just both sides of the expressway but also old and new Gurgaon, densely populated areas far from the metro network, newly developed sectors where the city’s new population is fast settling in and the railway station – is the first government-driven expansion of the metro corridor in the city since the Yellow Line’s launch here in 2010.
In the years since, the city has just added 11.7km of metro line in the form of the privately built Rapid Metro network, which was commissioned in two phases in 2013 and 2017. And with the Yellow Line covering a mere 5.3km, the city’s metro imprint hasn’t kept pace with its economic and population growth.
The Modi government’s approval for Gurgaon Metro comes after much back and forth on the project, which went through multiple changes of plan before the current alignment was deemed the best both for ridership and the city’s connectivity needs.
“In next phase, it will provide connectivity to IGI airport,” an official statement said.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “Today’s (Wednesday) Cabinet decision will help revolutionise transportation in Gurugram. It will improve connectivity with the Delhi airport as well.”
The Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation Limited (HMRTC) will be the implementing agency for the project, which will be a 50:50 special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Centre and state governments. The SPV will be similar to DMRC. The line is expected to see trains roll out by 2026-27 if it meets all deadlines.
Announcing the decision, Union food minister Piyush Goyal said the daily ridership on this new network is estimated to be around 5.3 lakh by 2026, 7.3 lakh by 2031, 8.8 lakh by 2041 and 10.7 lakh by 2051.
According to the Cabinet decision, the Centre will provide Rs 896 crore for the project while the state’s share will be Rs 1,432 crore. The city development authority will pitch in with Rs 300 crore and Rs 2,668 crore will come as pass-through assistance or loan component. The project will also have a PPP (public private partnership) component for lifts and escalators with an investment of Rs 135.5 crore.
The loan is being worked out with the European Investment Board and World Bank.
Gurgaon Metro will connect with the railway station near Sector 5, with the proposed RapidX corridor (Sarai Kale Khan-SNB) at Sector 22 and with the Yellow line at Huda City Centre. It will also connect to the Dwarka Expressway through a spur from Basai.
A senior Haryana government official said, “We will float a tender for construction of the metro route and actual construction work will start in the next few months, after completion of the tender process. In the meantime, GMDA will complete utility shifting and clearing land for the project.”
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said recently work on the project would begin in a month. Union minister and Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who has been pursuing the project, said traffic pressure has increased significantly on roads in the city and there is an urgent need for a metro line. “The metro network will connect almost all areas of Gurgaon, particularly the old city, and it will reduce traffic load on roads,” said Singh.
Deepak Maini of the Federation of Indian Industry (FII) said the metro route would make travelling within the city easy. “Mobility and easy access to transport is crucial for the development,” said Maini.