Approval for Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project Phase-1
19 Oct 2014
The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on saturday gave its approval for the first phase development of the Ahmedabad Metro Rail Project covering a length of 35.96 km at a total project cost of Rs10,773 crore.
Phase-1 of the project will cover a length of 35.96 km along two corridors, viz, the North-South corridor covering 15.42 km from APMC to Motera Stadium and the East-West corridor covering 20.54 km from Thaltej Gam to Vastral Gam.
Of the total project cost of Rs10,773 crore, the Govt. of India will contribute Rs1,990 crore in the form of equity and subordinate debt.
The project will be implemented by Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Ltd, which will be converted into a 50:50 jointly owned company of the Government of India and the government of Gujarat.
The proposed two alignments are expected to provide much needed connectivity to the commuters and would traverse through some of the densest and traffic congested areas of Ahmedabad. It will considerably reduce traffic congestion and will bring in fast, comfortable, safe, pollution-free and affordable mass transportation system for the people of Ahmedabad.
This would in turn contribute to further development and prosperity of the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Area, which has a population of 6.3 million.
Ahmedabad is the seventh largest metropolis in India and accounts for 12 per cent of the population of Gujarat. The region has witnessed a growth rate of 2.25 per cent over the last decade. At present, Ahmedabad is the district headquarters and the High Court and many offices of the Central Government are also located there.
The future forecast of population based on the projections done as a part of the Integrated Mobility Plan for the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Region, 2031 projects the population as 11 million for the horizon year of 2043. About 70 per cent of this population will be residing in the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Corporation (AMC) area.
Augmentation of bus transport will not be able to cater to the increased public transit load and passengers will shift to private modes, which is already evident from the high vehicle ownership trend in the region. This would not only aggravate congestion on the streets but also increase pollution. Hence, a Metro Rail System in Ahmedabad has become essential, an official release said.