State approves DPR of Rs 4,203 crore Swargate-Katraj Metro corridor

Pune, India (Urban Transport News): In a review meeting held on Friday Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Pune district guardian minister has approved the 5.5-km long stretch between Swargate-Katraj of Pune Metro Rail project on the PPP model. The meeting was held with seniors officials of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) and Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro). Saurabh Rao, Commissioner, PMC; Vikram Kumar, Commissioner, PMRDA and Dr. Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director, Maha-Metro have attended the meeting. The Swargate-Katraj Metro stretch is an extension link of the Pune Metro Underground project which will cost Rs 4,203 crore in addition to the existing underground metro project. Deputy Chief Minister has instructed all concerned officials to execute the extensions of the metro corridors on the public-private partnership (PPP) model. Deputy Chief Minister also approved the extension of the Shivajinagar-Hadapsar metro corridor till Loni Kalbhor. He said that there is a need to extend the metro corridor from Swargate to Hadapsar.

Vanaz to Chandani chowk corridor will be extended on the same line. Hinjewadi to Shivajinagar metro corridor will be extended till Maan as a metro car shed is being constructed there. This new metro route will be called the Maan-Hinjewadi-Shivajinagar metro corridor.

“We have been demanding to extend the Swargate to Hadapsar corridor for a long time now as there are many commuters on the route. Ajit Pawar has accepted this proposal,” said Chetan Tupe, MLA from Pune District. Deputy Chief Minister also asked Maha-Metro officials to rename the Pimpri - Swargate metro corridor as the Pune - PCMC metro corridor as many local leaders have opposed to the earlier name as the line also passes through Pimpri - Chinchwad. The rest of the corridors will be known as Pune Metro only. Interacting with media persons, Dr. Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director, Maha-Metro said:

Pawar has ensured full support for the ongoing and future metro projects. Be it land acquisition or budgetary allocation, the deputy CM has said that the government would provide full support to the project. Although the ongoing metro work is not being affected by land acquisition problems in the near future we will require the land under question and so the government’s support is required. Also, we will now start working on the DPR for the proposed and new metro lines and study the technical feasibility for the project and traffic in the area. As of now, about 37% of work on the ongoing metro work is completed.

According to the detailed project report (DPR), three new metro stations - Gultekdi Market Yard, Saibaba Nagar and Katraj - will be constructed on the 5.5-km long Swargate-Katraj metro stretch.