Mumbai will have two Metro corridors operational by October next year, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to conduct trials on the under-construction Metro Line 7 and Metro Line 2A by next August.
“Nearly 90% of civil work has already been completed and we plan to start the trial runs on both the lines by July-August 2020. We have plans to inaugurate both lines by October 2020,” R.A. Rajeev, Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, said.
The 16.5-km-long Metro Line 7 will link Andheri (East) to Dahisar (East) and is being constructed on the Western Express Highway (WEH) at a cost of ₹6,208 crore. The 18.6-km Metro Line 2A is being built between Dahisar (West) and D.N. Nagar in Andheri for ₹6,410 crore.
The MMRDA has taken the debt financing route to fund both corridors and has secured loans worth ₹2,803 crore and ₹2,246 crore for Line 2A and 7 respectively, from the Asian Development Bank.
Mr. Rajeev said they are also mulling an equity financing route for the two corridors after they are completed, wherein the corridors would be given to a third party. “We would get a lump sum upfront from them which can then be used for other projects or to finance our loans.”
Reprieve for motorists
Two key road projects will soon be commissioned by the MMRDA. Mr. Rajeev said they will inaugurate the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC)-Chunabhatti Connector soon and that motorists would get further relief in December when they plan to commission the 714-metre flyover connecting BKC to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The two projects aim to reduce congestion at Dharavi and Bandra junctions, which are the access points for the BKC at the Bandra-end.
