Yogi to flag off civil work on Rs 18,000 crore Kanpur Metro on Friday

Adityanath govt had approved three metro rail projects in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut last Jan, at an investment of Rs 47,000 cr; all three likely to be operational by 2024

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will launch the civil work on Kanpur Metro Rail project on Friday, which is estimated to cost Rs 18,000 crore when fully completed.

According to UP Metro Rail Corporation limited (UPMRC) officials, the contract to build the ‘viaduct’ of the 8.73 km elevated section of the priority corridor of Kanpur Metro was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure on September 13, 2019.

On January 17, 2018, the Adityanath cabinet had approved three proposed metro rail projects in Agra, Kanpur and Meerut at an investment of almost Rs 47,000 crore. The required funds would be raised through share equity, debt and borrowings from financial institutions.

The Agra, Kanpur and Meerut metro rail projects would require investments of almost Rs 14,000 crore, Rs 18,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore respectively. The three metro services are projected to be operational by 2024.

Of the total investment required, about 57% would be pooled through long term credit raised from bilateral/multilateral financial institutions, which would be facilitated by the Centre. The aggregate borrowings for Agra, Kanpur and Meerut metro projects would stand at Rs 7,200 crore, Rs 9,300 crore and Rs 7,500 crore respectively, which totals almost Rs 24,000 crore.

Meanwhile, union minister of state (independent charge) for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri will also be present at the inaugural ceremony at the auditorium of Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K).

The Priority Section comprises metro stations at the IIT- Kanpur, Kalyanpur Railway Station, SPM Hospital, CSJM University, Gurudev Chauraha, Geeta Nagar, Rawatpur Railway Station, Lala lajpat Rai Hospital, Moti Jheel.

The priority corridor is expected to be completed in two years and the work on other sections would be taken up in subsequent phases. UPMRC has already completed the Lucknow Metro North-South Corridor project within a record time of four and half years.

With the 23-km North-South Corridor of the Lucknow Metro now operational, the Adityanath government is boosting similar projects in other cities.

On March 8, 2019, the foundation of the Kanpur and Agra metro rail projects was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kanpur. In fact, metro projects have also been proposed in other major cities of UP, including Varanasi, Allahabad, Meerut, Gorakhpur etc.

Last year, the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) Board of Directors meet chaired by union ministry of housing and urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra had approved the reconstitution of LMRC as a single Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named UPMRCL.

The Board had also endorsed the revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of proposed East-West Corridor of Lucknow Metro project tabled by LMRC managing director Kumar Keshav at its 32nd meeting at Chennai in June 2018. The East-West corridor spanning 11 km is touted to cost nearly Rs 5,500 crore.