On December 7, the Union cabinet approved the first phase of the Pune Metro rail project covering a distance of 31.254 km over two corridors- Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to Swargate corridor covering 16.6 km and Vanaz to Ramwadi corridor covering 14.7 km. While the first corridor will be a mix of underground and elevated sections, the second corridor (Vanaz to Ramwadi) will be completely elevated.

The total cost of developing the metro rail corridor is estimated at Rs 11, 420 crore, and the project is expected to be completed in five years from the time work begins. The project will be jointly owned by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MAHA-METRO – jointly owned by the state and the Central government). This will benefit around 50 lakh people in the Pune metropolitan area. It will be covered under the legal framework of the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, and the Railways Act, 1989, as amended from time to time.

The existing Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Limited (NMRCL), which is a joint Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Central and Maharashtra governments, will be reconstituted into the MAHA-METRO for implementation of all state metro projects, except the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

A press statement issued by the central government stated, “The approved alignments are expected to provide much needed connectivity to commuters and will traverse through some of the densest and traffic congested routes in the Pune metropolitan area.” The much-anticipated launch of the Pune metro project ahead of the civic polls has triggered a tussle between political parties over who should launch the works.

Journey from scratch to here