BOMBAY, 22 June 2006 — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday laid the foundation stone for an ambitious Rs.195 billion ($4.2 billion) metro rail scheme to tackle traffic woes in the western economic center of Bombay.
The ceremony marked the start of plans to build nine lines totaling nearly 150 kilometers by 2021 to ease pressure on the overcrowded existing rail system in the city of more than 18 million.
The prime minister asked the Bombay Municipal Corporation to initiate reforms and said the project will change the scenario of the city. The project will be executed in three phases.
The fare structure will be approximately 1.5 times that of the local bus fare. What is significant is that the air-conditioned and pollution-free system will enable commuters to reach Ghatkopar from Versova in only 21 minutes as compared to the 70-minute, tiring and stressful journey of today. The trains will also have automatic protection and control systems.
Being built by a consortium led by Reliance Energy (REL) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at a cost of Rs.23.56 billion, the first east-west corridor will traverse from Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route.
Reliance Energy and MMRDA will share the project cost for this corridor. Reliance will have 74 percent and MMRDA 26 percent.
The project will run on a BOOT or Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis and is expected to go on full swing by October.
“There is no problem of funding for the first phase. The central government is helping us in the viability gap funding with Rs.6.50 billion,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh said.
The government’s share in this mega project will work out to Rs.13.40 billion in equity and a viability gap of Rs.6.50 billion.
“Being a private company they were calculating higher rate of returns and so they were asking for Rs.12.50 billion but we have negotiated with them for only Rs.6.5 billion linked to progress of the work and they agreed to it,” MMRDA chief T. Chandrashekhar said.
“The entire Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route will be on standard gauge elevated rails with 12 stations,” Chandrashekar said.
“Its four air-conditioned coaches can carry 60,000 passengers per hour.”
The entire metro project will cover a distance of 146 km. The first phase has three corridors covering 62.4 km that will include the Versova-Ghatkopar stretch, the Colaba-Charkop stretch and the Bandra-Mankhurd stretch.
Manmohan announced plans two years ago to make Bombay a world-class city along the lines of Shanghai’s development and referred to the long-delayed metro rail project. Nearly one quarter of it is planned to run underground.
Bombay has been India’s business and economic center since the era of British colonial rule but its swift expansion has not been matched by infrastructure improvements.
Following devastating floods last July that left hundreds dead, Manmohan promised the backing of central government to improve Bombay’s overburdened infrastructure as Indian economic migrants continue coming to the city. The premier told the ceremony yesterday that India’s cities had suffered from years of neglect.
“We need new investment in world-class public infrastructure for our cities. We have to invest in public transport,” he said.
