The Hindu Business Line : Indigenisation helps Delhi Metro cut costs

Metro service
Per unit cost of building the Phase II Metro has come down by five per cent
For a population of one million, India has only three kilometre of metro rail
By 2011, Delhi Metro may siphon off 1.1 million commuter trips from road

New Delhi , July 21

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has called for greater indigenisation and standardisation of equipment to bring down the cost.

The per unit cost of building the Phase II Metro in Delhi has come down by five per cent as compared to Phase I due to indigenisation, said the Managing Director, Dr E. Sreedharan, on the sidelines of a CII seminar on MRTS here on Friday .

Reducing costs

The cost of construction in Phase I was about Rs 110 crore per kilometre for elevated portion of the Delhi Metro and Rs 260 crore per km for underground portion, said Dr Sreedharan. The Phase I of Delhi Metro was constructed at Rs 10,570 crore. The proposed Masterplan of Delhi Metro envisages 245 km of metro rail line to be built over four phases, with a present cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

"We are in talks with BEML to take up Phase-II metro coaches (with higher indigenisation) in a serious way," he said, adding that Delhi Metro has tried to ensure increased local involvement. He pointed out that tunnel boring has been indigenised, though more technology transfer needs to be done for signalling.

Mr Mangu Singh, Executive Director-Corporate Planning, DMRC, said that the organisation has been earning an average of Rs 51 lakh per day (excluding property development) making it operationally profitable from the first day.

Given high population density of urban centres in the country, India fares quite low in the metro rail , he said.

For a population of one million, India has three kilometres of metro rail whereas Europe has 38 km, followed by North America (23 km), he pointed out. The overall Asian average is at a higher level of 10 km of metro rail for every million people, while South America has eight km and Africa has one km of metro rail systems.

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Indigenisation helps Delhi Metro cut costs