Besides these metro projects, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved development of two new civil enclaves at Bagdgora Airport (West Bengal) and Bihta (Bihar). These two will be developed at a combined cost of nearly Rs 3,000 crore.
“Only five cities had metro rail prior to 2014, but today there are 21 cities with metro facilities,” Vaishnaw said while adding that infrastructure projects worth over Rs 2 lakh crores have been approved since the government recently took charge.
The Cabinet’s decision to develop two corridors of Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase-3 project is going to cost the exchequer Rs 15,611 crore. An official statement said this will develop two corridors spanning over 44.65 kilometres (kms) with 31 stations. ‘Bengaluru city to have a Metro Rail Network of 220.20 kms after completion of the third phase,” an official statement said.
The new 29-km corridor in Thane will run along the periphery of West side of the city with 22 Stations. “The network is encompassed by Ulhas River on one side and Sanjay Gandhi National Park [SGNP] on the other,” a second statement said while adding that this project will cost Rs 12,200 crore.
Funds would also be raised through innovative financing methods such as by selling station naming and access rights for corporate, monetization of assets, Value Capture Financing route, the statement added.Another project in Maharashtra approved by the cabinet is the Rs 2,954.53 crore Pune Metro Phase-1 project extension. “This new extension is known as the Line-l B extension and will span 5.46 km and will include three underground stations, connecting key areas such as Market Yard, Bibwewadi, Balaji Nagar, and the Katraj suburbs,” another statement noted.The CCEAs decision to develop new townships is going to address the saturation of capacity at airports in Bagdgora and Patna. A New Civil Enclave at Bihta, Patna, Bihar is estimated to cost Rs 1,413 crore. The one at Bagdgora Airport, Siliguri, West Bengal is at an estimated cost of Rs 1,549 crore.