East-West metro faces huge cost overrun: Supriyo

The East-West metro, which is being executed by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited, is facing a huge cost overrun from Rs 4,875 crore to over Rs 8,000 crore, Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo said today.
The additional cost would be jointly borne by the central ministries of rail and urban development and Japanese agency JICA, he told reporters here.
The present equity sharing between the three promoters is Railway Ministry (39.80 per cent), Ministry of Urban Development (13.98 per cent) and JICA (46.22 per cent).
The proportion of equity would not alter when the three promoters chip in with more funds for the project, Supriyo told reporters here.

Regarding the first phase of the project from Salt Lake to Sealdah, measuring 9.36 km out of the total 16.5 km stretch, he said the work is expected to be completed in June 2018 but was optimistic that it might be over by December 2017.
The second phase from Sealdah to Howrah Maidan was expected to be completed by June 2019.

Supriyo said following requests by the West Bengal government, the route had been re-aligned, which is costing an additional Rs 764 crore.
The Centre has agreed to bear this additional cost, he said, adding that necessary clearances from defence authorities were expected to be in place.

The entire stretch of the route would be fitted with platform screen doors at a cost of Rs 155 crore to avoid possible suicide bids.
Heavy engineering PSU BEML has been given the contract to manufacture the rolling stock.