Gurugram metro corridor awaits government nod

The proposed Gurugram metro corridor project between Cyber City and Huda City Centre is unlikely to start this year. The detailed project report (DPR) is expecting the Union urban development ministry’s nod, as per the Haryana Mass Rapid Transport Corporation Limited. Officials from the corporation told the media that the DPR is expecting the ministry's nod for several months now. Even if the ministry approves the project, work is unlikely to start this year since construction will take about three months to begin, they said. They have sent the DPR to the urban development ministry after getting a nod from the government of Haryana. The Ministry has not approved it yet. It will take three months after getting the approval to commence the work on the ground as they will have to invite bids and start other processes. Presently, two metro routes are functional in Gurugram — the Yellow Line, which has 7 km of its 14.5 km stretch in Gurugram, and the Rapid Metro corridor, which is 11.6 km long and joins Cyber City to Sector 56 with 11 stations. While the Yellow Line renders connectivity between Gurugram and Delhi, the Rapid Metro renders connectivity within Gurugram, along with Cyber City and Golf Course road. The Gurugram metro project has been in the pipeline for the past five years. However, it was only in 2019 that any strong step was taken, and a route was decided upon. According to the DPR, the new metro route will be 28.8 km long and will have 27 elevated stations in total, comprising a spur to the Dwarka Expressway. It will work in a loop between Huda City Centre and Cyber City through Sector 45, Cyber Park, Sector 47, Subhash Chowk, Sector 48, Sector 72A, Hero Honda Chowk, Sector 37, Basai village (from where it will have a spur to Dwarka Expressway), Ashok Vihar, Sector 3, Udyog Vihar-6, Sector 10, sectors 9, 7, 4 and 5, Bajghera Road, Palam Vihar Extension, Palam Vihar, Sector 23A, Sector 22, Udyog Vihar-4 and Udyog Vihar-5. The project cost is Rs 6,821.1 crore and may be functional by 2025. As per the DPR, the ridership on the corridor is estimated at 5.3 lakh passengers per day in 2025, with the number surging to 7.3 lakh by 2031, and 8.8 lakh by 2041. Image SourceAlso read: Gurugram metro expansion work to begin within five months