3 METRO ROUTES

The centre will fund the ‘viability gap’ for the Mumbai metro project, Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy announced on Wednesday. Reiterating that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was especially focused on Mumbai, the country’s financial capital, Reddy said that the Centre would bear Rs 4,500 crore of the total cost of Rs 22,000 crore.

Reddy’s announcement, made at a city function, was welcomed by top officials connected with the project. Maharashtra has been trying for almost two years to get central sanction for the viability gap funding (VGF) for the first three corridors of the Mumbai Metro. Viability gap is the sum the government underwrites in order to make a project financially viable for the promoter.
On a visit to the city in 2006, Reddy had promised central help for the first line of the Mumbai metro which amounts to Rs 650 crore. But months had passed without a sanction. “The state government had in fact decided to go ahead with the first line and was willing to pay the VGF costs if the central funds did not flow in,’’ said officials.
The first three corridors of the Mumbai Metro will cost over Rs 22,000 crore,with the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar line costing Rs 2,356 crore, the Colaba-Bandra-Mankhurd line Rs 6,000 crore and the Colaba-Bandra line over Rs 12,000 crore.
Mumbai Metro One, a special purpose vehicle, was floated to build the first corridor with Reliance Energy Limited as the major stakeholder. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and a French multinational firm, Veolia, are the other stakeholders.