CM Advocates 100% Central Equity Funding For Vizag, Vijayawada Metro Projects

06 Jan 2025 CW Team

On January 2, 2024, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu chaired a review meeting on the status of the Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada metro rail projects, attended by Ministers P. Narayana (Municipal Administration) and BC Janardhan Reddy (Transport, Roads, and Buildings), as well as AP Metro Rail Corporation (APMRCL) Managing Director N.P. Ramakrishna Reddy and other officials. During the meeting, he instructed that both projects be completed within four years and directed APMRCL to negotiate with the Central Government for 100% equity funding.

In his presentation, Ramakrishna Reddy highlighted that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for the 76.90-km-long Visakhapatnam metro rail and the 66-km-long Vijayawada metro had already been approved. He noted that, prior to 2017, the Central Government did not fund metro projects in full, but under the 2017 policy, it had provided 100% equity funding for a 16-km-long metro rail project in Kolkata, at a cost of ?8,565 crore. This project was executed by the Ministries of Urban Development and Railways.

Naidu instructed the APMRCL MD to pursue 100% Central funding for both projects, referencing the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, which provides for metro projects within the state. Both metro projects will feature double-deck sections in some stretches. In Visakhapatnam, this will extend from Madhurawada to Thatichetlapalem and Gajuwaka to the steel plant, while the Vijayawada metro rail will include a double-deck structure from Ramavarappadu Ring to Nidamanuru.

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