Metro Phase-IV: Delhi govt to place budget allocation in assembly

NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Metro Phase-IV has been re-approved by the DMRC, thereafter the Delhi government will soon pass the matter in its Cabinet and then put its budget allocation in the assembly session to be held later this month. The total cost of the project was reduced from Rs 52,000 crore to around Rs 46,800 crore. In November, the government had sought fresh approval from the DMRC Board due to changes in the funding pattern.

A few days earlier, the Delhi government had asked DMRC to take the project back to its board to seek its re-approval, as the estimated cost of construction had changed twice.

The DMRC had submitted the first detailed project report (DPR) of Phase IV in 2014. However, approval from the government was pending for over four years due to various issues, including finances. The approximately 104-km-long Phase IV, having six corridors, will come up following approval from the Cabinet, said an official. Earlier, the Finance Department of the government had called three of the six corridors as "financially unviable."

Apart from the change in the overall cost of the project, there have also been changes in the loan component of the project, which has necessitated the re-approval from the DMRC board. The proportion of the loan to be provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has come down to 43 per cent, while it was 60 per cent during Phase I and 54 percent and 51 percent in Phase II and Phase III, respectively.

The 104-km-long Phase IV project has six proposed corridors, namely the Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor, Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor, Inderlok-Indraprastha corridor, Tughlakabad-Delhi Aerocity corridor, Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block corridor, Rithala-Narela corridor. With these tracks and corridors, the remotest parts of the national capital will have connectivity.

According to reports, Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block corridor would be the shortest corridor in Phase IV, 8 km long. Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block line will have seven stations with terminal stations providing interchange facilities and another interchange point for Magenta Line at Chirag Delhi. Moreover, this line will connect the existing Magenta and Pink corridors and the proposed Tughlakabad-Delhi Aerocity corridor. The project was approved in-principle by the Delhi government in January 2017 but a final approval and financial commitment are still awaited.