Delhi govt released Rs 415 cr to NCRTC for RRTS project: Kailash Gahlot

The Delhi government has released a payment of Rs 415 crore to NCRTC for the RRTS project, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Friday.

Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Delhi government for not coming up with funds for the Regional Rapid Transit System corridors to Alwar and Panipat, warning it if the dues were not paid within a week, the funds allocated by the AAP government for ads will be transferred to the project.

"The payment of Rs 415 crore has been made to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) by the transport department today," Gahlot told PTI in a message.

The government had released the first tranche of funds, approx Rs 80 crore, a few months back.

The RRTS project involves construction of semi-high speed rail corridors connecting Delhi to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Alwar in Rajasthan, and Panipat in Haryana.

The apex court had earlier acknowledged the budgetary constraints the city government cited, but at the same time warned it if such national projects were to be affected and money was spent on ads, it would not refrain from directing that those funds be transferred to this project.

The NCRTC is executing the RRTS project which is a joint venture between the Centre and the states involved.