Maharashtra Sets Up Panel for Unified Metro Operations

14 Nov 2025 CW Team

The Maharashtra government has set up a committee under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to recommend how all metro lines across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) can be operated by a single umbrella authority.

According to a Government Resolution issued by the Urban Development Department, the committee—headed by MMRDA Commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee—has been asked to submit its recommendations within three months. The panel will study global transport bodies such as Transport for London (TfL) and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA), both of which manage integrated citywide systems, to design a similar framework for Mumbai’s metro network.

Currently, three state agencies run and build metro lines in the MMR: the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and the MMRDA. MMRC operates the Aqualine (Metro 3) and is constructing the Wadala–Gateway of India corridor. CIDCO operates the Belapur–Pendhar metro in Navi Mumbai and is building three additional lines in the region. All remaining metro lines fall under the MMRDA’s purview for both construction and operations.

The committee will include MMRC Managing Director Ashwini Bhide; Rubal Agarwal, Managing Director of Maha Mumbai Metro Operations Corporation Limited; the Joint Managing Director of CIDCO; the Joint Secretary of Urban Development; and the Director (Planning) at the MMRC.

The MMRC was originally formed under Ashwini Bhide’s leadership when the state government lacked confidence in MMRDA’s ability to plan and build metro corridors. The government now aims to streamline operations by placing all MMR metro lines under one consolidated authority instead of maintaining three separate bodies.

Real Estate

05 Dec 2025

RBI Rate Cut Boosts Confidence Across Housing Market

Industry Context and Market DynamicsThe real estate industry has welcomed the RBI’s rate cut as a timely boost to affordability and demand. With home prices having risen steadily across major markets, even a marginal reduction in interest rates meaningfully strengthens purchasing power, especially for first-time and mid-income buyers.Ashish Jerath, President – Sales & Marketing, Smartworld Developers, observes:“The RBI’s 25-basis-point cut, bringing the repo rate down to 5.25%, is a timely boost for the real estate sector. Lower interest rates reduce borrowing costs, enabling homeb..

BMC Resumes Rs 170 Billion Road Works, Targets 80 per cent By Jan 2026

Following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon in October, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has restarted work on 645 roads—covering 297.49 kilometres—under its large-scale concretisation programme. Data shows that more than 60 per cent of the resumed works are located in the western suburbs. Officials said the civic body aims to complete concretisation on 80 per cent of the roads where fresh work has begun by January 2026. Launched in 2022, the Rs 170 billion project seeks to concretise 700 kilometres of roads across Mumbai. All civil works were halted during the monsoon ..

India Pushes Digital Shift In Urban Land Mapping

The Department of Land Resources (DoLR) under the Ministry of Rural Development has convened a National Symposium on NAKSHA – the National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations – to advance India’s transition to modern, technology-driven land mapping. Speaking at the inaugural session, Secretary Manoj Joshi underscored the urgent need to move revenue departments away from outdated, tape-based methods and rough hand-drawn sketches. He stressed that adopting latitude–longitude-based digital mapping and GIS-linked registration systems is essential for economic stabi..