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At a time when a flurry of metro and monorail projects across states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are being launched one after the other, the Gujarat metro project, which was mooted in 2005, continues to face delay.
Gujarat state government sources believe the project is unlikely to see any construction before elections due to a delay in approval of its latest detailed project report (DPR). While the Gujarat government is learnt to have given its nod, the metro project, being handled by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) Metrolink Express between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad Company Limited (MEGA), is yet to receive the Centre's approval for DPR.
“The state government has given an unofficial nod to the new DPR. The DMRC has sent the report for approval to the Centre. However, with elections nearing, it seems unlikely that the new DPR could be approved anytime soon and the construction activity might only begin after elections,” said a MEGA official on condition of anonymity. According to MEGA sources, the latest DPR which has been prepared with the help of DMRC after a new management took over the project in October 2013, is the second such report after the previous was quashed due to 'unviable' reasons.
With the advent of a new management at the helm of MEGA, the project has continued to see several changes, not only in terms of its DPR, but also in terms of project cost and route alignment. For instance, as against the earlier estimated cost of a whopping Rs 19,000 crore set by the previous management led by former bureaucrat Sanjay Gupta, the new management has brought down the same to Rs 10,000 crore, said official sources.
Post the exit of former bureaucrat Sanjay Gupta in October 2013, the state government's initiative had seen appointment of Manjula Subramaniam as chairman and senior IAS officer I P Gautam as vice chairman of MEGA, along with another IAS officer Vijay Nehra as its chief executive officer.
It has also been learnt that MEGA is likely to come out with a new route alignment for the first phase of the project. According to a senior state government official, the previous route alignment for phase one between Ahmedabad and state capital Gandhinagar was not economically viable nor technically feasible. It has been learnt that the new route alignment might see a criss cross section between east-west and north-south regions of Ahmedabad city.
MEGA sources stated that in the earlier route, the passenger density was less and population density, which is crucial to a metro project, was very low. Moreover, scientific and household surveys were also not done properly. However, while the previous management had conducted the surveys on its own, the new management has roped in the DMRC, which is reputed for its expertise in constructing metro rail projects.
Meanwhile, among other changes, MEGA has also returned a disbursed tranche of funding worth Rs 600 crore to a consortium of banks. A consortium of banks had also sanctioned a debt funding of over Rs 3000 crore for MEGA and released a sum of Rs 600 crore as well. However, the new management has returned the released money.
