Delhi Metro decides to take over the operations of Gurgaon Rapid Metro

In an apparent rescue act, Delhi Metro has decided to take over the operations of Gurgaon Rapid Metro, second such move after doing so with Airport Express Metro in 2013. Gurgaon Rapid Metro is owned by IL&FS Transportation Network Ltd (ITNL) — a subsidiary of the bankrupt IL&FS group.
 
According to the minutes of the meeting held between the state government of Haryana and managing director of Delhi Metro, Mangu Singh, the project will be taken over by DMRC for a period of five years. “From the start of the service on February 5, operations of Rapid Metro will be taken over by DMRC. The services will be run according to the existing timetable and fare,” according to the minutes of the meeting.

 
A senior DMRC official said the staff of Rapid Metro will be absorbed by Delhi Metro and will get existing pay scale and position for the next three months. “Existing staff of Rapid Metro will be taken over on an “as is where is” basis and some of the staff will be permanently taken over by DMRC as temporary contract employees. A screening process of every department will be done to assess the requirement of staff,” a senior DMRC official said. Sources said the Ministry of Urban Development had asked DMRC to take over the project after ITNL’s parent company IL&FS went bankrupt defaulting on debts. In October 2018, the central government took control of the management of IL&FS.
 
This is the second time DMRC has taken over operations of a project. In 2013, it took over the Airport Express Metro after Reliance Infrastructure pulled out of the project citing violation of concession agreement.