CM Kejriwal replies on DMRC Phase IV, RRTS and other Mobility projects

New Delhi/Urban Transport News: According to the recent official sources it has been found that Phase IV of Delhi Metro, which has been long pending clearance with the Delhi government, may be approved by the state in the next 10 days. On the sidelines of Delhi Chief Minster door-to-door campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said that phase IV of the Delhi Metro will be approved by his administration.

The approval will be given to “all” proposed corridors of phase IV, but it was not clear whether all six proposed corridors will be given the go-ahead or just the three corridors which were found viable by the government, said Kejriwal. Before this, the state government had deemed three corridors - Tughlaqabad-Aerocity (20.20 km), Rithala-Narela (21.73 km), Inderlok-Indraprastha (12.58 km) - proposed under the phase IV financially unviable. The government found - Janakpuri West-RK Ashram (28.92 km), Lajpat Nagar- Saket G-Block (7.96 km), Mukundpur-Maujpur (12.54 km) - viable financially. In January 2017, Delhi government has given in-principle approval for phase IV of the Delhi metro project, but the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is still awaiting final approval and financial commitment by the state government for the project.

In October 2014, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has already submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of the Phase-IV project covering a length of 103 km in 6 corridors. A cabinet meeting was held 3 times, but in January 2018, the approval of the first 61 km of 3 corridors for an alternative priority was sought. If it approved, the work will start in April 2019 and it would be completed by March 2024. On the construction of the three corridors, Rs. 28, 972 Crore expenditure is estimated, while the cost of Rs 47,375 crore will be spent on 6 corridors. The total project cost is expected approximately Rs 55,208 crore and both the Delhi government and the Union government have an equal stake in the DMRC. The Central government can only approve the project after it is approved by the Delhi government.