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Fund crunch hits Mumbai Metro
4 Comments
Issue: Sep 15, 2010
Development authority insists project on course
.jpg "Illustrations: Divya")
Illustrations: DivyaMUMBAI's Metro rail project has hit a roadblock. The regional planning authority, executing the project, is facing shortage of funds.
In July, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) approached the World Bank and Japan Bank for International Cooperation for a Rs 20,000 crore loan. MMRDA plans to use the amount for constructing seven metro corridors; work on two is under way. Recent reports say the cost of the 146 km Metro network, comprising nine lines, has escalated from Rs 19,525 crore to Rs 47,092 crore. The MMRDA approached international banks for the third line of Metro, the 20 km Colaba-Bandra line. A section of the line would be underground: per kilometre cost of underground Metro is Rs 635 crore as against Rs 235 crore for an elevated corridor.
So far, MMRDA has been using viability gap funding for the project—Rs 2,356 crore for the Versova-Andheri- Ghat-kopar line and Rs 8,250 crore for Char-kop-Bandra-Mankhurd. Viability gap funding is a Central scheme wherein projects with low financial returns, executed through privatepublic partnership, are given grants of up to 40 per cent.
The viability gap funding for the Metro's first two lines was 20 per cent. "Due to the underground section of line 3, this gap funding is expected to exceed 40 per cent," an MMRDA official said. P R K Murthy, chief of transport and communication division with MMRDA, said, "We are only exploring options."
Simpreet Singh, an activist working among communities affected by infrastructure projects in Mumbai, asked, "Why invest in such costly transport projects that do not attract enough ridership?" (see 'Carriage of convenience', Down To Earth, April 15, 2010.) Bina C Balakrishna, a transport planner in Mumbai, said recovering the Metro project's cost would not be easy. "It can be partially recovered through advertisements, but if the tickets are too high, chances are Metro will lose passengers," she said.
Brainless MMRDA planners- Its time to rethink about the latest Skybus technology. We can have a wonderful rail network at just 1/3rd cost of metro. Please do not waste the tax payers' money on this white elephant(metro)
Anonymous
Rather than building the 3rd line in old areas of south mumbai at such a high cost (due to underground), MMRDA should invest in larger MMR region. It will require less capital and help de-congest the city. Mumbai has largest population density in world, about 30,000 people per sq ft. There is urgent need to decongest the city. This can be done only if infrastructure is built in areas like Virar, Kalyan, Panvel, Alibaug etc... These areas may not be very popular today, but if infrastructure is built, they will allow for much improved quality of life, and many businesses and residents will decide to move to larger MMR region.
Anonymous
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asddfs
Mumbai is surviving today because the British at their time build a good infrastructure.Keeping in mind the growth of urban population we will have to invest heavily into suburbs and place like Virar panval. Probably the city might be split into the Rich in now called as Mumbai city and the middle and lower middle class moving to out limits. This gives rise to creating job , health care facilities in those places. Hope our city planner are on top of this and ensure that we as Indian are good planner the next generation need not call that Mumbai was built by British, instead we would like to remember as British built it , the Indians refurnished expanded and beautified it.
Harish Dev
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