DMRC Phase IV: Centre revised proposal unilaterally, without justification, says Delhi Govt

The Delhi Government on Tuesday accused the Centre of revising the component-wise cost for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Phase IV project without assigning any "reason or justification".

In a statement, Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot's Office said: "The component-wise cost has been revised by the Government of India unilaterally without assigning any reasons or justification. The equity component of the Delhi Government has been increased from 8.08 per cent to 16.36 per cent."

Accusing the Centre of increasing the project cost from 20.77 per cent to 31.44 per cent, the statement said that these kinds of unilateral changes by the government without taking the Delhi Government into confidence are not "comprehensible".

It also raised concerns over the approval of only three Corridors out of the six approved by the Delhi Cabinet. "The Delhi Government had approved all the six Corridors proposed by the Delhi Metro in Phase-IV vide Cabinet Decision dated 19/12/2018. However, the Government of India thereafter on 09/03/19 approved only three Corridors out of the six approved by the Delhi Cabinet," the statement read.

After the revision, the entire amount towards land acquisition was apportioned to the Delhi Government whereas in the earlier three phases it was apportioned between Government of India and the Delhi Government equally.

Expressing dismay over the Centre not communicating the revisions to the Delhi Government, it claimed that Centre unilaterally made changes to the proposal. "The unilateral changes are not only against the federal system of Government but also substantially increased the financial burden on the Delhi Government," it read.

On March 8, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved three of the six corridors proposed under Phase-IV of the Delhi Metro.

The three corridors comprise of Aerocity to Tughlakabad (15 stations), RK Ashram to Janakpuri West (25 stations) and Maujpur to Mukundpur (six Stations).

The three corridors consist of both underground (22.359 km) and elevated (39.320 km) sections.The project comprises three priority corridors with a total length of 61.679 kms. Out of the total length, 22.359 kms will be built underground and 39.320 km will be constructed as an elevated section.

"These corridors will consist of 46 stations, of which 17 stations will be underground and the rest 29 stations will be constructed as elevated sections," the Centre had said in a statement.The total completion cost of three metro corridors will be Rs 24,948.65 crore.