Construction of Rs 11,076 crore metro rail project begins in Kanpur today

Kanpur (Urban Transport News): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today flagged off the foundation stone laying ceremony of Rs 11,076 crore Kanpur metro rail project at IIT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Minister of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Secretary Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs Durga Shankar Mishra, Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Managing Director Kumar Keshav and other officials attended the ceremony. Addressing the gathering at the inaugural ceremony, Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS for Housing & Urban Affairs said:

The Kanpur Metro Rail project is of 32.4 km length at a total cost of ₹11076 crores and it will provide seamless connectivity between major residential, commercial, industrial & tourist centers in the city & will be completed in 5 years. The two corridors of the metro project will provide smooth connectivity to various densely populated residential areas including Kakadeo and Govind Nagar.

He said that the Kanpur Metro Rail project will have two corridors which will pass through the heart of the city covering several prominent educational institutions, railways and bus stations including IIT Kanpur, CSJM University, GSVM Medical College, Jhakarkati Bus Stand and Kanpur Central Railway Station.

The funding for the project will be provided both by the Central Government and the State Government and also through the loan from multilateral agencies. These projects will be implemented by the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (formerly known as Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation), a 50:50 jointly owned company of Government of India and Government of Uttar Pradesh. Corridor-1 of Kanpur Metro Rail Project will be 23.785 km, comprising 22 stations of which 14 will be elevated and 8 underground whereas Corridor-2 is of the length of 8.60 km comprising of 8 stations of which 4 are elevated & 4 underground.

Corridor-1 from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel has been selected as the priority section and the total length of this section is about 9 km. The priority section of Kanpur Metro will be completely elevated with, 9 stations; IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur Railway Station, S.P.M Hospital, C.S.J.M. University, Gurudev Chauraha, Geeta Nagar, Rawatpur Railway Station, Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital and Moti Jheel. On September 13, 2019, the contract worth Rs 734.56 crore was awarded to Afcons Infrastructure Limited for construction of viaduct and stations of 9 km priority section of Kanpur Metro Rail project. The Chief Minister has inaugurated the construction work by pressing the button of the piling machine.