Bihar fast-tracks Patna Metro rail project

The Bihar government has decided to constitute Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) in a bid to speed up the Patna Metro rail project, state Urban Development Minister Samrat Choudhary Friday said.

"After the SPV is constituted, the DPR (Detailed Project Report) of the Patna Metro rail will be sent to the central government for approval," Choudhary said.

He said the decision was taken at a high-level meeting with top officials of the state government.

SPV will be set up with a board of directors, headed by a non-executive chairman and project director as MD of Metro Rail Project.

Early this month, the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) finalized the DPR for the Patna metro rail project and submitted it to the state government.

The DPR has reduced the project cost to Rs.14,000 crore from Rs.17,000 crore that was estimated earlier.

He said that now the state government will work to declare Patna a metropolitan city as it will help to speed up the Metro train project.

He said that initially the Metro rail will be run on two routes in the city.

A Patna Metro Rail Corporation on the lines of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will be formed for monitoring the construction, he added.

Patna is home to more than two million people, and congestion is a serious problem on the city's overcrowded roads.