Bihar cabinet nod for Patna Metro Rail project

The proposal on the Rs 16,960 crore project will now be sent for clearance to the union govt

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The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday gave the long awaited nod to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Patna Metro Rail Project, an official said.

"The DPR of the Patna Metro Rail project was approved in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The decision was much awaited," the official in the chief minister's office said.

The proposal on the Rs 16,960 crore project will now be sent for clearance to the union government.

Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) last year submitted the DPR to the Bihar government.

Bihar Urban Development Minister Maheshwar Hazari said the metro project was a priority for the state government, which was keen to begin construction as soon as possible.

An official of the urban development department said the state government would now work to declare Patna a metropolis to help speed up the metro rail project, which initially would have two routes.

A corporation on the lines of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation would be formed for monitoring its construction, he added.

Patna, home to more than two million people, witnesses a number of traffic snarls on its roads.