Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Cabinet has approved the detailed project reports (DPRs) of the Metro rail projects for Bhopal and Indore costing Rs 14,485.55 crore. While talking to media persons here on Tuesday, Public Relations Minister and Spokesperson of the State government Narottam Mishra said, The state Cabinet, chaired by the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, today approved the DPRs for the development of the Metro rail projects in Indore and Bhopal. These projects would cumulatively cost Rs 14,485.55 crore.
About the funding pattern of the projects, Mishra said the Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company Limited would seek a loan to the tune of 60 per cent while the state government and the Centre would respectively share 20 per cent each of the total cost. The state and Central governments would respectively provide Rs 2,897.10 crore each. The remaining Rs 8,691.35 crore would be arranged through loan from multilateral/ bilateral funding agencies.
Initially, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had ‘in-principle’ given the nod to provide the loan for Bhopal Metro project. But, JICA didn’t move ahead later on, he said, when asked about the arrangements of funds. Mishra also said that the funding options are open before the Metro company as it may seek the funding from other financial institutions. He informed that two Metro corridors of 27.87 km would be laid in Bhopal.
Of these, the first corridor of 14.99 km would be laid from Karond to AIIMS (Saket Nagar). The second corridor of 12.88 km would be from Bhadbhada Square to Ratnagiri. There would be one corridor of 31.55 km from Rajwada to Nainod in Indore. Mishra said that the work on Metro projects in both the cities would be started from next financial year.
When asked about BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya’s tweets blaming the state government for the delay in implementation of the Metro train project in Indore, Mishra said the projects in Bhopal and Indore are running at the right pace. There is no delay. Metro projects are being run on time in Bhopal and Indore, in accordance to needs of the city,” he said. In February 2015, the state Cabinet had decided to constitute Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Company for implementation of Metro projects in Bhopal and Indore.