21 cities, 1,415 km of metro-rail worth Rs 4.09 trillion approved

They say a true growth story is best reflected in numbers. Consider this: India’s metro-rail story started at 8 km in 2002. Today, the country has achieved close to 600 km. And going forward, roughly another 600 km of sanctioned metro lines are under construction with 1,000-1,500 km of metro-line proposals under planning.

Indeed, India’s metro rail network has grown rapidly to figure among the top 10 largest metro networks in the world.

At present, Delhi Metro is the eighth largest metro train network in the world. Recently, the Delhi Government cleared the 103.93-km, six-corridor Delhi Metro Phase IV; once this is completed, Delhi Metro is expected to become the third largest metro network in the world. With a total length of about 453.58 km, it will overtake New York (380.2 km), Nanjing in China (378 km), Seoul (340.4 km), Moscow (381 km), Guangzhou (391.8 km) and London (402 km). Shanghai and Beijing are first and second, with a total length of 644 km and 599.44 km, respectively.

The revolution

Evidently, India is going through a metro revolution today. With 600 route km being used by over 5 million commuters today, over 15 cities in India are under various stages of adding an additional 1,500 route km in the near future.

That said, not all projects have been able to achieve timely completion within estimated costs. “The financial rate of return will be low (from +3 to negative) but the economic rate of return will be anything from 15 to 20 per cent,” says Dr E Sreedharan, Principal Advisor, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). “This means the metro is not an attractive area for an investor but it is a social need in which the government should invest.”

For his part, Mohammad Athar, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, says, “Like most major urban transit developments, the presence of a metro corridor has induced transformations in land use in connected areas. Commercial establishments and office areas place a high premium on better connectivity and have thus benefited from the presence of the metro. Metro-rail systems are also increasingly viewed as a more environment-friendly mode of transport and have led to improvement in air quality.”

In India, metro rail has emerged as a preferential transport alternative in Tier-I cities faced with growing population, high traffic and increased pollution, according to Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director, Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. “With the remarkable success of Delhi Metro, many states including Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have rapidly implemented metro-rail projects,” she says.

And Anuj Dayal, Executive Director, Corporate Communications, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, points out, “Metro rail is non-polluting and carries a large number of people without restricting or occupying road space. Therefore, it is a potent answer to the congested roads of our urban centres.”

SHRIYAL SETHUMADHAVAN

City-wise distribution of approved metro projects

Project	Length - km	Approved Cost - Rs billion
Delhi*	411	1,100.25
Noida	29	55.03
Gurugram	11	36.35
Mumbai	197	820.78
Navi Mumbai	11	30.64
Kolkata	135	213.90
Bengaluru	114	402.50
Hyderabad	72	141.32
Chennai	54	183.70
Pune	54	175.44
Nagpur	38	86.80
Ahmedabad	36	107.73
Indore	32	75.01
Patna	31	133.66
Bhopal	28	69.41
Kochi	26	51.82
Lucknow	23	69.28
Jaipur	12	31.49
Surat*	40	120.20
Agra*	29	83.80
Kanpur*	32	110.76

- Source: Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA)

- *Delhi Metro Phase 4, Agra, Kanpur, and Surat Metro were approved recently (Feb/March-2019)

Metro-rail projects in DPR/approval stage

City	Estimated Cost- Rs billion
Delhi Metro Phase 4 and Extension	644.63
Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi, Meerut, Agra, Kanpur)	631.32
Guwahati	180.20
Andhra Pradesh (Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada)	165.59
Chandigarh	139.09
Mumbai – Line 2A, Line 7	118.02
Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram, Calicut, Kochi)	89.68
Others	24

Source: ICRA research, MoUD, metro websites

Status of operational / under implementation Metro Rail Projects in India

City	Length – km	Approved Cost- Rs. crore	Status
Delhi / NCR	379	90580	Major part is Operational
Mumbai	208	85142	Partly Operational
Kolkata	135	21390	Operational
Bengaluru	114	40250	Phase 1 Operational
Hyderabad	72	14132	Partly Operational
Chennai	54	18370	Partly Operational
Pune	54	17544	Under implementation
Surat	40	12020	Recently approved
Nagpur	38	8680	Under implementation
Ahmedabad	36	10773	Under implementation
Indore	32	7501	Recently approved
Kanpur	32	11076	Recently approved
Patna	31	13366	Recently approved
Agra	29	8380	Recently approved
Bhopal	28	6941	Recently approved
Kochi	26	5182	Partly Operational
Lucknow	23	6928	Partly Operational
Jaipur	12	3149	Partly Operational
Gurgaon	11	3635	Operational
Total	1354	385039

Source: ICRA research, MoUD, Metro websites

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