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Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit today said her government was facing a “problem” in raising funds for the Metro’s Phase—III but voiced confidence that the issue will be resolved soon and the Metro network in the Capital will double to 400 kms in the next few years.
In an interaction with media persons after inspecting the Airport Express Metro Line, Ms Dikshit said the roadmap for the ambitious Phase—III, that envisages adding another 105 kms to the network, has been prepared and a decision on it will be taken by a Group of Ministers of the Union Government.
“We will tie up the funds. Till the Phase—II, we had the Japan International Cooperation Agency funding us. There is a problem. We are scouting for funds and we will find a way out. Delhi will eventually have Phase—III and IV and a network of 400 kms,” she said.
The Urban Development Minister, Mr Kamal Nath had last week said he wants the Delhi Metro to be bigger than the London Metro, which has a network of 412 km, by 2017. DMRC currently has around 200 km of network.
The Delhi Government has been maintaining that it has no funds and wants the Delhi Development Authority to partly fund the Phase—III along with it and the Centre. The Planning Commission has also suggested that the DDA partly fund the Phase—III so that the debt equity ratio can be reduced.
The plan panel wants the Phase—III to be implemented in 50:50 debt equity ratio. It wants 50 per cent to be shared by the Centre, Delhi Government and the DDA, while the rest to be raised through soft loans from JICA.
The Phase—III is likely to cost Rs 28,000 crore with six corridors coming up.
Ms Dikshit said the project is currently discussed between the DMRC and GoM and a final decision will be taken soon. However, she refused to give a time frame.
She said efforts are being made to connect the Airport Express Line, which will be operational by the end of this month, to Gurgaon.
“But I cannot tell anything about that now. A decision has to be taken by the DMRC, Haryana Government and other stakeholders concerned,” she said.
Asked whether she wants the IGI—Gurgaon Line to be awarded to the Reliance Infra, she said she cannot decide on her own.
“It is a collective decision. When everyone agrees and the funds are available...,” she said, adding that the Airport Line has been successfully constructed by the consortium.
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