Delhi Cabinet gives green light to Metro Phase-IV

Approval comes four years after proposal was first passed by DMRC Board

Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV, which will include six new corridors spanning a total of 103.93 km, was approved by the Delhi Cabinet on Wednesday, around four years after the proposal was first passed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) Board in 2014.

Terming it a “good news” for the Delhiites, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet that the new phase would boost public transport and reduce pollution.

Addressing a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said the Delhi government would be spending a total of ₹9,707 crore on Phase-IV over the next five years. This financial year, the Delhi government would pay ₹1,100 crore. The DMRC would start construction on the six new corridors simultaneously from January 1, 2019, with the target of completing it by December 2024 at a total cost of ₹46,845 crore.

The six corridors in Phase-IV would be from Rithala to Narela, Janakpuri West to R.K. Ashram, Mukundpur to Maujpur, Inderlok to Indraprastha, Aero City to Tughlakabad and Lajpat Nagar to Saket G-Block. With a total of 79 new stations, Phase-IV would take the total length of the Delhi Metro network to 453km, Mr. Sisodia said.

Speaking about the delay in approving the project, which is jointly funded with the Centre, Mr. Sisodia said: “The BJP tried everything to obstruct the proposal through bureaucrats...The biggest obstacle was when the Centre said they would not exempt metro from central taxes like before.”

The Delhi government’s Finance Department had said that three of the six corridors would be non-viable, however, this observation was overruled and the proposal passed. The DMRC had re-approved the proposal on December 10 with a cost reduction from ₹52,000.

Apart from Phase-IV, the Cabinet also approved the construction of an elevated road underneath the Rithala to Narela, Janakpuri West to R.K. Ashram and Mukundpur to Maujpur corridors. Mr. Sisodia said the construction of these roads would be done by the DMRC and fully funded by the Delhi government.

In addition, the Cabinet approved the proposal to add 334 rolling stocks in order to reduce the waiting time and rush on the existing trains of phases I, II and III.