'Metro rail projects need Rs 1 lakh crore in next 10 yrs'

The Rs 85,000-odd crore investment for metro rail projects so far in India is the starting of a long journey. According to E Sreedharan, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC), the upcoming metro rail projects in the country will require an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of 10 years.

"Today all the metro rail projects together cost around Rs 85,000 crore. But the country will need another Rs one lakh crore of funds for upcoming metro rail projects over a period of 10 years. As of now, the country requires around 250-300 metro coaches per annum, but this may go up in future," said E Sreedharan, managing director of DMRC, at the launch of the first Bombardier MOVIA metro train at its new facility in Savli, Vadodara.

The new metro train is part of an order for 424 MOVIA metro cars for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and was built in 24 months including the time it took to construct the new manufacturing facility.

Talking about upcoming metro rail projects, Sreedharan said, "There are many metro rail projects coming up in the country. For instance, construction has already begun in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. Add to that, metro rail projects are in consideration for Lucknow, Jaipur, Cochin, Ludhiana, Pune and Kanpur, and DMRC is preparing a detail project report (DPR) for the same."

Sreedharan also called for a high level of indigenisation of the metro rail cars.

"While the level of indigenisation is only 30 per cent, it needs to be increased to a very high level. However, it is only possible when ancillary manufacturing units are set up nearby for which the Gujarat government should also take the lead," said Sreedharan.

Listing out project costs for various metro rail projects, Sreedharan said, "The cost of first phase of Delhi metro rail project was around Rs 10,000 crore while the second phase will see an additional cost of Rs 20,000 crore. Each of Chennai and Kolkata metro rail projects will also cost around Rs 10,000 crore. Similarly, the Mumbai project will require an investment of Rs 15,000 crore. While for Delhi we have ordered around 81 metro trains with four coaches each, by October 2010 the second phase of the project will cost Rs 3,000 crore itself."

DMRC plans to complete the additional 125 kms of second phase before Commonwealth Games next year.